One of the big problems with depression is how it saps motivation. You may have notice that not much has happened here over the last few months and that's because it has been near impossible for me to be motivated to do much, let alone feeling like anything has been achieved.
As part of my recovery and trying to get back on track (as I have gone way off track recently), part of my plan is to get back into doing the video work, but the other one is to have set goals and to achieve them. This is where the miniatures come in.
As such, my goal is to do one box a month (or a single one if it is a single model) with me working on the rest of Malifaux if I complete it early. As such, I will be focusing on my Death faction for this. Why? Well, Skeletons, Wolves and Bats are far more easier and quicker to paint then say, a Freeguild Soldier for example. This way, the projects are simple and far more achievable in the short term, thus helping me focus on completing bigger projects in the long term (such as the voice, video & vfx work).
It can not only help in my recovery, but I get another army to use when I get back into gaming again. A positive outlook in my opinion.
Tuesday, 13 March 2018
New Temporary Background
So just to add the feel that this blog is moving forward, I have thrown together a quick temporary background. This was more of a test to get me back into Photoshop, but also to try out what some backgrounds would look like. I might work on a better one in the future, but for now, this one will do nicely.
Sunday, 4 March 2018
GW & Wyrd Miniature Previews 3rd March
So lets look at a few previews that caught my attention.
First comes from the Daughters of Khaine range that are about to be released.
These gals really represent the kind of things I wanted to start seeing in a fantasy game like Age of Sigmar. I would like to see more creative variety in the future for the range, but this is an excellent start. I like the Lifetakers in particular as they stand out better then the old Harpy range was.
The Gibbering Hordes from Wyrd never seem to disappoint and the Devouring Eel is another creature with a love of teeth. The short lore behind it having incredible regenerative capabilities and its ability to reproduce asexually has them being quick to infest areas and a major pain to remove. Definitely something that would be essential in an invasion.
First comes from the Daughters of Khaine range that are about to be released.
These gals really represent the kind of things I wanted to start seeing in a fantasy game like Age of Sigmar. I would like to see more creative variety in the future for the range, but this is an excellent start. I like the Lifetakers in particular as they stand out better then the old Harpy range was.
The Gibbering Hordes from Wyrd never seem to disappoint and the Devouring Eel is another creature with a love of teeth. The short lore behind it having incredible regenerative capabilities and its ability to reproduce asexually has them being quick to infest areas and a major pain to remove. Definitely something that would be essential in an invasion.
Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Painting Skeletons
So this is a great little tutorial when it comes to painting Skeletons.
I decided to test out some of these on a few left over skellies from my old TK stuff and learned a few things. I need to find a way to blend it in smoother as the colours are great on the tests, but the drybrushing doesn't blend it in as well, so I need to look into getting this right. I also learned that drybrushing can prove difficult depending on how your Skeleton is based. My classic ones have their arms to closed up and covering part of the head. I also don't have the exact paints used, so tried to use ones that looked very similar (mostly cause a majority of my paints are from the Citadel range and no one yet sells the Game Color range in my area). The paint jobs were slightly rushed, but the effect does look better then my old style.
I want to paint more Skeletons in the future, but my experiences doing the Archers, Horse Archers and that 10 model unit with hand weapons made me feel like they weren't right. The focus is to paint the Skeleton first and then blend in the muddy feet. The old ones felt too much like they had just been raised and not like they had been rained on in a while (part of the lore of my Death faction), so practicing new ways to do it in which there is a slight brown, but still clean enough looking to just muddy the feet feels like a much better solution (not to mention that they will look a lot better).
I decided to test out some of these on a few left over skellies from my old TK stuff and learned a few things. I need to find a way to blend it in smoother as the colours are great on the tests, but the drybrushing doesn't blend it in as well, so I need to look into getting this right. I also learned that drybrushing can prove difficult depending on how your Skeleton is based. My classic ones have their arms to closed up and covering part of the head. I also don't have the exact paints used, so tried to use ones that looked very similar (mostly cause a majority of my paints are from the Citadel range and no one yet sells the Game Color range in my area). The paint jobs were slightly rushed, but the effect does look better then my old style.
I want to paint more Skeletons in the future, but my experiences doing the Archers, Horse Archers and that 10 model unit with hand weapons made me feel like they weren't right. The focus is to paint the Skeleton first and then blend in the muddy feet. The old ones felt too much like they had just been raised and not like they had been rained on in a while (part of the lore of my Death faction), so practicing new ways to do it in which there is a slight brown, but still clean enough looking to just muddy the feet feels like a much better solution (not to mention that they will look a lot better).
Got Light Bulbs
So finally got around to getting some light bulbs for those two small lamps, so with any luck I can build the set-up and test out photographing miniatures again. I'm over due for some uploads, so with any luck I might get some shots done Friday (medical appointment tomorrow) so here's hoping I might be able to get something up by next week.
A Reminder of 90's Classics
So by pure chance I stumbled upon this clip when trying to catch up on some of the past episodes on Channel Awesome and it just brought back some nostalgia (I find this clip is funny, if a little dark).
I love animation and I love voice acting, so to see voice actors still doing their characters voices fills me with...what do you call it...some kind of positive emotion. If only I could remember what people called it. Joy, was it?
To be fair, I loved watching the Steven Spielberg Present's animation series such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Freakazoid .etc (loved these shows in particular) and there is no doubt that many will state that Animaniacs was the greatest of them all. I know we watched it often, but I also enjoyed a number of episodes from the spin-off show Pinky and the Brain (who had small episodes on Animaniacs until they got their own series). Having now been given a chance to go back and re-watch some of the episodes (had to look some online as apparently iTunes Australia only have Tiny Toon Adventures and the Pinky and the Brain series). If you do get a chance, try to look all these shows them up. If you like good parodies and references from the 90's then I highly suggest Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures but also, there is also quite a bit of adult humor that tends to appear in these shows (Animaniacs above all it seems).
Heck, if you were to ask which character I liked the best from these shows I would be hard pressed as just about all of them are amazing, let alone just how great the voice acting gives these characters personality and life. I could go on, but I might better explain it in a future post or Animated Reflections article. That said, word has it Animaniacs is returning, though I won't hold my breath until it's out (partly cause I don't want to keep my hopes up and partly cause holding ones breath that long is just stupid).
Looking through my collection, I actually have the DVD of the movie Wakko's Wish and watching it again was great. I might do a quick Animated Reflections look at it in the near future as it is the perfect collection of the shows best characters, music and comedy and could easily be considered the closest thing to perfection for the Animaniacs series.
Go find these shows and watch them. Do it now. Stop reading this and go watch them, it is a life priority.
I love animation and I love voice acting, so to see voice actors still doing their characters voices fills me with...what do you call it...some kind of positive emotion. If only I could remember what people called it. Joy, was it?
To be fair, I loved watching the Steven Spielberg Present's animation series such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Freakazoid .etc (loved these shows in particular) and there is no doubt that many will state that Animaniacs was the greatest of them all. I know we watched it often, but I also enjoyed a number of episodes from the spin-off show Pinky and the Brain (who had small episodes on Animaniacs until they got their own series). Having now been given a chance to go back and re-watch some of the episodes (had to look some online as apparently iTunes Australia only have Tiny Toon Adventures and the Pinky and the Brain series). If you do get a chance, try to look all these shows them up. If you like good parodies and references from the 90's then I highly suggest Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures but also, there is also quite a bit of adult humor that tends to appear in these shows (Animaniacs above all it seems).
Heck, if you were to ask which character I liked the best from these shows I would be hard pressed as just about all of them are amazing, let alone just how great the voice acting gives these characters personality and life. I could go on, but I might better explain it in a future post or Animated Reflections article. That said, word has it Animaniacs is returning, though I won't hold my breath until it's out (partly cause I don't want to keep my hopes up and partly cause holding ones breath that long is just stupid).
Looking through my collection, I actually have the DVD of the movie Wakko's Wish and watching it again was great. I might do a quick Animated Reflections look at it in the near future as it is the perfect collection of the shows best characters, music and comedy and could easily be considered the closest thing to perfection for the Animaniacs series.
Go find these shows and watch them. Do it now. Stop reading this and go watch them, it is a life priority.
Tuesday, 27 February 2018
Death & My Death Faction - Second Thoughts
So this will probably be my final thought on this and I'll probably keep talking about my miniatures in the future more limited (unless I actually have photos). But anyway, looking at it a second time around, I wondered if I could look at what a better themed Death army would look like for me under the new Legions of Nagash rulebook and I think I've come up with a nice list (at least visual wise for me):
- Wight King with Baleful Tomb Blade (King Nicholas - General)
- Necromancer (Queen Judith)
- Vampire Lord (Lord Bartholomew)
- Vampire Lord (Lady Miranda)
- 30 Skeleton Warriors (spears)
- 30 Skeleton Warriors (spears)
- 5 Dire Wolves
- 20 Grave Guard (some say shields, some say greatblades. Still not sure what to pick).
- 4 Bat Swarms
- 4 Bat Swarms
- 1 Terrorgheist
(This brings the force to 1,990pts)
This works well with my Skeleton/Bat theme faction. I'm not too sure about the mud bases, but the feedback I receive is positive, so what I might do is mix in some stone slabs/ruins to add more flavour to it. I've also given names for each unit and have given each its own colour scheme so they all stand out from each other more among the rather drab bases. I would also use the Fenrisian Wolves from 40K as my Dire Wolves as they not only better suit the theme, but I feel they just look better over the rotting Dire Wolves of Fantasy. I would like better Bat Swarm models from GW, but then there are always negatives to that. I am still considering the model numbers in the ranks of Skeleton Warriors and Grave Guard to decide if I need to remove some to add Black Knights as they are a good offensive unit, but then having large block units with Heroes and Gravestones means I can heal them and keep the numbers high to hold enemies at bay. Still more though to be had on that.
Lore wise, I want this group to be free of Nagash's control and that the Skeletons do still have their own will and personalities, plus I want the Kingdom to be more friendly and noble, its rulers being good and just. I have a backstory in progress and have already relocated them to a distant part of the Realm of Ghur (Realm of Beasts). Here, their stone citadel guards over two clashing Realmgates. The first leads to the Realm of Shyish (Realm of Death) while the other leads to the Realm of Ghyran (Realm of Life). Both Realmgates are constantly bursting out energy, which are always conflicting with each other. Life grows and withers, one part of the fortress is cold and silent while the other has vines and flowers glowing with colour. Rain is a constant and the grounds surrounding the Citadel are thick with mud. The beasts of the land tend not to intrude on their land and the surrounding villages worship them as supernatural rulers, who emerge from the stronghold to battle the enemies that attack them. In return, the villages offer their blood in exchange for this protection (so as to keep Bartholomew and Miranda sustained), though this is done sparingly by the Vampires, who despise the Soulblight curse that was inflicted upon them. When not engaged in battles outside, the various warriors guard the Realmgates, for fear they maybe used to invade their home by those who wish them harm.
For the most part, I like where this is going, though if I'll ever get around to getting them is another matter entirely. As for the Allegiance, I am looking towards Legion of the Night as I feel it has the most theme going for it (well the name has anyway), but worse comes to worse, general Death can still work and leaves open the option to use Tomb Kings models (I imagine the Skeleton Archers man the walls, the Horse Archers patrol the area and the Tomb Scorpions possessed the tormented bodies of Nagash's Vampire minions, who are caught, drained, gutted and imprisoned in them to power the Scorpions who hide underground and emerge to attack those who trespass on the land near the Realmgates, both as a warning and a defense).
- Wight King with Baleful Tomb Blade (King Nicholas - General)
- Necromancer (Queen Judith)
- Vampire Lord (Lord Bartholomew)
- Vampire Lord (Lady Miranda)
- 30 Skeleton Warriors (spears)
- 30 Skeleton Warriors (spears)
- 5 Dire Wolves
- 20 Grave Guard (some say shields, some say greatblades. Still not sure what to pick).
- 4 Bat Swarms
- 4 Bat Swarms
- 1 Terrorgheist
(This brings the force to 1,990pts)
This works well with my Skeleton/Bat theme faction. I'm not too sure about the mud bases, but the feedback I receive is positive, so what I might do is mix in some stone slabs/ruins to add more flavour to it. I've also given names for each unit and have given each its own colour scheme so they all stand out from each other more among the rather drab bases. I would also use the Fenrisian Wolves from 40K as my Dire Wolves as they not only better suit the theme, but I feel they just look better over the rotting Dire Wolves of Fantasy. I would like better Bat Swarm models from GW, but then there are always negatives to that. I am still considering the model numbers in the ranks of Skeleton Warriors and Grave Guard to decide if I need to remove some to add Black Knights as they are a good offensive unit, but then having large block units with Heroes and Gravestones means I can heal them and keep the numbers high to hold enemies at bay. Still more though to be had on that.
Lore wise, I want this group to be free of Nagash's control and that the Skeletons do still have their own will and personalities, plus I want the Kingdom to be more friendly and noble, its rulers being good and just. I have a backstory in progress and have already relocated them to a distant part of the Realm of Ghur (Realm of Beasts). Here, their stone citadel guards over two clashing Realmgates. The first leads to the Realm of Shyish (Realm of Death) while the other leads to the Realm of Ghyran (Realm of Life). Both Realmgates are constantly bursting out energy, which are always conflicting with each other. Life grows and withers, one part of the fortress is cold and silent while the other has vines and flowers glowing with colour. Rain is a constant and the grounds surrounding the Citadel are thick with mud. The beasts of the land tend not to intrude on their land and the surrounding villages worship them as supernatural rulers, who emerge from the stronghold to battle the enemies that attack them. In return, the villages offer their blood in exchange for this protection (so as to keep Bartholomew and Miranda sustained), though this is done sparingly by the Vampires, who despise the Soulblight curse that was inflicted upon them. When not engaged in battles outside, the various warriors guard the Realmgates, for fear they maybe used to invade their home by those who wish them harm.
For the most part, I like where this is going, though if I'll ever get around to getting them is another matter entirely. As for the Allegiance, I am looking towards Legion of the Night as I feel it has the most theme going for it (well the name has anyway), but worse comes to worse, general Death can still work and leaves open the option to use Tomb Kings models (I imagine the Skeleton Archers man the walls, the Horse Archers patrol the area and the Tomb Scorpions possessed the tormented bodies of Nagash's Vampire minions, who are caught, drained, gutted and imprisoned in them to power the Scorpions who hide underground and emerge to attack those who trespass on the land near the Realmgates, both as a warning and a defense).
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