Showcase: Gorten and Connie

So I've been busy painting up some of my models in between moving-in my fiancee and getting ready for some visitors this weekend. While I certainly have a lot to paint (forge guard are next on the painting table) I have been able to finish painting two warcasters: Gorten Grundback and Constance Blaze! Connie has been a pleasure to play with and I'm looking forward to playing with her more but I need a couple of models before I feel comfortable fielding Gorten (I only have a Basher for a warjack). Even still I managed to paint both models and I figured I'd show them off!

Showcase: The Woldwrath

I know it's been a long time coming, but I finally got pictures snapped for the Woldwrath!  I'm really excited to use this guy but unfortunately school is getting in the way.  I'll be fine for now, but mark my words - I will want to smite someone with his fists in the near future!  While I've already written about how the Mountain King really isn't as bad as people claim, I haven't written much on my opinion of the Woldwrath (that will be coming soon).  I will let you know that I really like the Woldwrath, but its uses will be far more limited than the much-maligned Mountain King.  Even still, I want to try him out because I think he will be fun, even though he won't see much use below 50 point games (except for eBaldur).  Anyway, without further ado, here's my Woldwrath!

Showcase: Black 13th, Reinholdt, Pendrake

So I've been pretty busy painting the past couple of days because I want to have at least one fully-painted list for the tournament on Sunday.  The challenge, of course, is that I still haven't decided on what I want to take for my reinforcements and so until I decide what I want to bring along, I might as well get the other elements of my list painted up until I finalize my decision.  Today I'll share some photos of what I've accomplished so far.

Showcase: The Stormwall

It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for!  Okay, maybe not, but I finally took some pictures of my finished Stormwall.  I've been debating with myself on whether or not I should go back and highlight the blue on its armor plates more but I've now decided against it.  I'm very satisfied with the way it looks and I'm pleased with the color blue I have, without needing to highlight it just for the sake of highlighting it.  He fits with my painting style and dammit, I'm keeping him the way he is!  Without further ado, here's my Stormwall!

Showcase: Sloan and the Minutemen

 First of all, look what arrived yesterday!  It took a good amount of time to put together but I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of the kit.  There was some flash and a slight miscast along a mould line, but I'm overall impressed with the thoughtful placement of the mould lines and assembly points.  While I work on the colossal task of painting it (GET IT!?) I figured I'd share some of my other Cygnar models: two of the four Minutemen I own, and Kara Sloan - who I finished painting yesterday!  I don't claim to be a great painter but I am quite pleased with how these models came out.

GW Shade vs. Wash AND Harlan Versh

So yesterday there was some disappointing news about the status of War Room being delayed.  It was originally planned for late April but now it's looking like the middle of May will be when we can expect this awesome app.  I didn't share it on here but if you had checked out the Facebook page you would have found out about it yesterday!  Ha!  And you thought I wasn't going to plug the Facebook page today...

The real article today is actually a two-for-one.  I've begun painting my 15 point Morrowan list for the local Warmachine League and I recently picked up some of the new GW paints to try them out.  Not the 'base' or 'layer' paints, but some of the more interesting paints like the new 'shades', 'dry', and 'glaze' paints.  I'll be doing some reviews of the dry compounds and glazes later, but since I used the old GW washes right away in my painting process (it helps to identify the detail before I paint), I figured it would be helpful to show the differences between the new Nuln Oil black shade and the old Badab Black wash, and then I'll show off my first painted Morrowan model: Harlan Versh!

Showcase: Diorama Art Project

Day 3 of plugging the Steam-Powered Gamer Facebook page!  Not only will I be posting updates about miscellaneous Privateer Press news on the facebook page, but various photos of models or projects that aren't found here - such as what I'll be sharing with you today!

Today I actually have to share something really special: a Warhammer 40k diorama that one of my best friends made for his senior art project.  Typically I don't post anything 40k related on here, but since this was done by one of best friends and it was his senior college project, he wanted me to share it so that people could enjoy his work.  Also, I must claim some credit for the project.  When he was torn about what he wanted to do for a senior project as an art major, I convinced him that he should really do what he loves most: 40k!  Not only was it a great display of artistic skill, but it also gave him a great excuse to paint up a bunch of models that he could play with later (which he did).

Showcase: Fiona and Taryn di la Rovissi

 It takes me a long time to get models painted.  It's not that I'm a slow painter.  In fact, I think that I paint models fairly quickly.  No, it's that I am obsessive about finishing the model and since that takes around 3-5 hours, and I have a job that consumes most of my time, that means that even when I get bit by the painting bug, I still can only get a couple of models done per week.  Last weekend I was inspired by my recent successes with Fiona the Black and I decided that I should just sit down and get painting.  The most daunting part for me, was trying to nail down a paint scheme.  Why was this so difficult?  It's because I have such a hodge-podge of models that I use with my Mercenaries, including the recent addition of the pSkarre theme list.  This means that I want my models to blend with Cryx, but I also want them to make sense if I want to play the Highborn Covenant mercenary contract.  This left me with some difficult decisions for my palette, but ultimately I decided to use two of my favorite colors: purple and green, accented by white.

Showcase: Stormguard

Okay, by now you're probably sick of all of the showcases, so the good news is that today's will be the last for a while... or at least until I finish painting what models are on my painting table.  Today I will showcase my two units of Stormguard!  What's great about taking pictures of my models is that I become hyper aware of what kind of damage they have taken in the time since I finished painting them.  Last night I made sure to go through and fix all of the little chips, dings, and minor paint spills.  I'm not the neatest painter, but I wanted them to look at least a bit better for you all.  Let's see how they turned out!

Showcase: Gnarlhorn and Pureblood

To continue with my painting streak, I finally decided to finish my Gnarlhorn and Pureblood Warpwolf.  Much like my Druids, I had started and essentially finished these two warbeasts over the summer while I was in Savannah, but I had never gotten around to basing them because my basing stuff was packed away for so long.  These are two warbeasts that I absolutely love and they find their way into many of my lists, so I figured that it was about time that I touch them up, finish basing them, and seal them.  I did complete painting these two guys prior to finishing the Gorax, so you'll notice that the musculature is not as highlighted as I wanted.  Still, I think they look pretty good, even if their skin looks a little too flat.

Showcase: Gorax and More!

So I have a treat for everyone today!  I've been painting between playing Skyrim and work and finally have a model to show for it!  It feels like I've been painting more than I actually have, because much of my painting time has been focused on touching up my constructs.  They have seen repeated use in games for over a year so they needed some love to fix up those chips that they have seen over time.  While I will present to you a completed model, I will start by showing you the touched-up constructs.

Templecon is coming!

I'm now starting a series for the next couple of months on the Road to Templecon (2012), chronicling my preparations for what is bound to be an epic convention of gaming.  Templecon is historically one of the biggest conventions for Warmachine/Hordes games and I plan on entering with my team into the Team Tournament this year.  Part of my preparation includes list building, playtesting, and lots of painting.  Let's first start with the history behind this decision (Pictures from Templecon 2011 were taken by my awesome girlfriend).

So Templecon is nearly upon us!  What is Templecon?  Well it's one of the biggest (if not the biggest) Steampunk convention in the US and it takes place in Warwick RI.  This year the convention will take place Feb. 3rd-5th and it is sure to be EPIC this year since last year there were over 250 people playing in the Iron Arena alone!!!  This year the convention is taking over the Grand Ballroom and it's certain to be a much bigger event than last year.

Warmachine Table Part 3: The Colors of the Wind

The Colors of the Wind

He was pleased at how the battlefield was taking shape.  Every stone was in its place, the grooves in the earth were ready to be filled with flowing water.  "Wait!  I'm getting ahead of myself, the waters have no color!"  The general realized that his battlefield was lifeless and lacked the color it deserved.  "Time to get painting!"

Warmachine Table Part 2: Stones of the Earth

I apologize for not writing for a couple of days.  I have been similarly affected by the massive power outage which is currently plaguing the US East Coast.  Fortunately, I'm staying with my girlfriend in Boston while I wait for power to return to my school, but I have been busy playing games instead of writing blog posts.  So hooray for that, at least!  Today we will return to our regularly scheduled blog with the second part about my making my Warmachine table!

Clay and Sand

This is where we left off last time

The general plotted and planned how he would use the natural terrain to his advantage.  "The battle will soon be upon us and we need to prepare the earthen battlements!"  He ventured out from his headquarters to survey his environment, connecting himself with the Earth.  "Aha!" he exclaimed, "I have found exactly what I need!"

Army Showcase: Sticks and Stones

My big stone constructs! The Woldguardian is my fave

When I first thought about playing Warmachine/Hordes, I looked through all of the different models of the factions on the Privateer Press website.  At the time, the group of gamers at the Local Game Store were mostly playing 40k, so I wanted to start small and cheap, just to get a 25-35 point army just to have something different to play.  I saw the models for the Woldwarden and Megalith and thought that they were pretty neat.  I've always loved druids and the idea of animated trees, and this was pretty close.