Bretonnians for sale!

It’s with a less heavy heart than I’d anticipated that I announce that I’m selling the majority of my unloved Bretonnian army.

I decided to jump back in to Warhammer Fantasty Battle in the early days of what would be the final edition of the game.  At the time I had a real struggle chosing an army but the idea of massed ranks of heavy cavalry carving up the table really appealed to me, and I thought that as they’d not been updated for a considerable time that a new Army Book was imminent.  How wrong I was!

After it was clear that this army was not going to make a proper transition to Age of Sigmar, I considered for quite some time keeping the models and using them to practice new painting techniques.  Lets be honest, that was never going to happen.

I also considered whether or not to look into the Oldhammer or Kings of War scene, but I have little enough time for the games I play and armies I collect and starting something new just to keep going what little models I had was not attractive.

So here we are.

Here’s what’s currently on offer on eBay. Click the links below for more details. 

Bretonnian Army

This is the bulk of my force, it contains 12 Men at arms, over 40 Bowmen, a Pegasus Knight and 22 Knights.

Lord with Great Axe

This is the metal version and apparently quite rare.  It’s a shame that he’s not technically legal in the 8th edition rules but it’s still a cool model!

Army Standard Bearer

Again, this is the metal version, I pinned the standard’s arm to the model for added stability.

Grail Knight Champion on Foot

As you can see, this one’s still in its blister pack.  Genuinely forgot I had this one!

Knight of The Realm Hero on foot

Like the previous one, a happy rediscovery.  This chap could potentially find a home in the AoS skirmish or board games.

 

If anyone has questions regarding these, please drop me a line in the comments section or via ramblingsfromthetrenches@virginmedia.com.

 

Age of Sigmar – first sightings

Looks like my local GW, sorry Warhammer shop is gearing up for the launch of the next version of Warhammer Fantasy Battle*.

  
*Yes, yes, I know it might be a one off boxed game and even if it is technically the 9th edition of WFB, it might be called something else. But it’s definitely the start of something…

Some Chaos at Work

Recently my team moved to a different part of the office, we even got new not in any way hideous carpets.  As such, I decided to bring in a few models to sit on my desk to both inspire my creativity and advertise to all and sundry my wargamer credentials.

Here’s my new desk.

Honestly, it’s always this tidy…

And here’s a close-up of my monitor stand.

Work for The Work God!

Veteran readers may remember that these models were my 2013 Warmongers Secret Santa gift.  Before I moved jobs I used to have some old Cadians and Eldar Guardians that I’d previously used to test out colour schemes but they were really poorly painted and didn’t really reflect what I’m capable of.

Plus hopefully I can channel some of the, erm, straightforwardness, of Khorne in my daily tasks.  Either that or I’ll start reaping skulls in the greater Leith area…

Bretonnian Army Book ‘no longer available’

Well, well, well. I’ve been have a wee poke about the new GW website and look what I found, or didn’t find to be more accurate.

The tubes have been aflutter about the possibility of a Wood Elf release in May, this could still well happen however their book is still available.

What does this mean? Probably nothing. The defeatist in me wonders is this truly is the end of our loveable gallic nobles as we currently know them.

I think there’s more than enough room in the Old World for them but the Design Studio has a big task on their hands to bring them back up to the standard of the other armies. Maybe we’ll see a Dark Eldar like resurgence, I really hope so.

Getting Back Into The Groove: Warriors of Chaos

I am very pleased to report that, not only have I started painting again but I’ve actually managed to finish something, and in time for Miniature Monday too!

These Warriors of Chaos was part of my sWarmonger Secret Santa and I’m very glad they’re finally finished.

While I’m not intending to start a WoC army, I thought I’d paint them as if I were and since I love painting a a Khorne Berserkers I thought I’d replicate the scheme. Maybe after my Bretonnians are done I’ll revisit these guys as I do want to eventually collect an evil Warhammer Fantasy army.

My 2014 Hobby Not-Resolutions

Now that things are ever so slowly returning to normal, I think it’s time to run through a few of the ideas I have for the coming few months. I did seriously consider writing a list of ‘Hobby Resolutions’ for 2014 but given my track record, I think I’ll keep things slightly smaller scale to avoid disappointment, dissolution and frustration.

First of all, I need to finish my Hobby Room / Man Cave.

A fancy-pants panorama of the Hobby Cave a couple of weeks ago.

And as it looks today (about twenty minutes ago actually), I managed to fit in an extra bookcase which now holds…

…all my wargaming books 🙂

As you can see, it’s currently taking shape however it still requires some more light (the ceiling light doesn’t work, thanks previous owners!), a couple more chairs and a gaming table.  Unfortunately the pictures don’t really show how long the room is, it can easily take a 6’x4′ table with enough space to be comfortable.  Most pressingly however it requires to be tidy, that will be my first challenge and one that can be completed without spending any cash. Doing so will also allow me to start painting and building again, something I’ve not done since the middle of December. As for the lighting, chairs and gaming table, that will have to wait until after payday.

Next up are the current projects that need to be completed. Before I started packing up for the move I had the following on my desk.

• Three push-fit Warriors of Chaos – this is part of my Warmonger Secret Santa gift and Warmonger decency means that I’ll be finishing these first. As it stands they’re basecoated so I think I’ll get them completely finished in about four hours.

• A Finecast Fabius Bile – the basecoat is almost done but significant work is required. This model is going to be a labour of love as I don’t know when I’ll have the chance to use him in a game. I want to get this model done right; it’ll take as long as it takes.

• A Khorne Berserker Rhino – this is really close to completion. All I really need do is make the stencil for the icon on the top hatch and tidy up some of the detail. I reckon I can get this done during a weekend.

• A Forgefiend – this has been built and basecoated using the Maccrage Blue spray. While I don’t want to give it a Fabius-level of attention, it will be a centrepiece of any deployed army so I want it to look good. I think maybe a couple of weeks’ worth of evenings and a solid weekend or two.

• An Imperial Bastion – basecoat is done and I’ve been adding detail while waiting for other things to dry. That pattern will continue until it’s done, whenever that is!

• Five Mutated Chaos Marines – all are progressing nicely, their amour is done so I only need to do the mutations. Maybe a couple of evening’s worth of solid work.

I have many other projects on the go, too many. The list above is sufficient to give me some mental clarity; I don’t want to become overwhelmed into inaction again as such things happen too frequently to me. On the back burner right now are my Dark Eldar, Bretonnians, Dark Angels and Imperial Guard, all of whom have half-painted or half-built models requiring attention. I also have a full box of Imperial Sector sprues I’d like to play with sooner rather than later.

Right, onto the not-resolutions.

As you can see from that list, it’s exclusively Warhammer Fantasy and 40K. I’d like this to be the year I explore other game systems. In the late nineties I played a tiny bit of Battletech, I’d like to revisit this is possible however I don’t know how big the scene is in this part of the world so that’s the first thing I need to find out.

I’ve also heard good things about Infinity, given that 40K has more or less abandoned its skirmish routes this game does appeal to me. That said, it would be cheaper for me to dust off my Necromunda gang as my regular gaming group plays this regularly but I fancy something non-GW for a change.

I’d also like to finally take the plunge and get on the Kickstarter bandwagon. There are so many great things to back, the main reason for not doing so up to now is that my wife and I were saving for a house. Now that’s out of the way, and the fact that there are no kids on the horizon, means that I should have a bit more cash to play with.

This year I’d like to try out a few new painting techniques that I’ve been too scared to go near thus far. As such I’m going to make an effort to experiment with Edge Highlighting, Object Source Lighting, and Non-Metallic Metal. I’m also going to try to rely less on washes and glazes, but that might be a step too far!

Finally, I really want to make Ramblings a better, more professional site. I’ve no idea how, but I’ve been doing this for a bit over two years and I think it’s time for me to grow as a blogger and for the site to grow with me too. How’s that for vague?

That’s all for now. Thank you all for reading, commenting and generally supporting the blog, it really means a lot. Here’s to 2014!

New Bretonnians Sooner Rather Than Later (or Never)?

A while ago I got all excited by the now-false rumour that GW would be updating my Warhammer Fantasy army of choice.

Recently there has been chatter hinting at the worrying possibility that my beloved knights’ days as a full army may be numbered. I took this with a grain of salt (as one must do with all rumours) but I was worried as no other Fantasy army really appeals to me.

These rumours have been in part fuelled by the recent withdrawal of key models from the GW website, their absence meaning that now new players cannot easily build legal armies.

Today I popped into my local GW during my lunch break to pick up the latest White Dwarf and got talking to one of the staffers about this situation and was told not to worry as the whole Bretonnian range is due for an update ‘soon’. He also hinted that there are new plastic knights on the horizon.

Again, what does ‘soon’ actually mean? We were told for years that the Dark Eldar were coming soon and look how long their second completely new codex took to arrive.

While this doesn’t completely allay my fears, at least it gives me some (hopefully not) false hope that the most noble of all the armies may one day soon bring truth, justice and honour back to the Old World.

2013 In Review (Part 2)

Now that I have a bit of breathing space, it’s a good time for a more personal look at my hobby year.

Compared to 2012, last year was comparatively quiet hobby-wise. This was for the most part due to Real Life getting far too much of a look in. January saw me starting a new post at work which required a significant amount of training and retraining which was bookended by yet another move to an even busier area in November! Alas my pay as remained the same so you can’t have everything, but I’m just grateful I have a job I usually enjoy and am halfway competent at.

Coupled to this was our protracted and somewhat stressful purchase of our first home. After months of prep our offer was accepted in early October but due to legal shenanigans at the seller’s end we were unable to move in until December 20th. Needless to say, we’re still unpacking! Also, I’d like to once again pay tribute to our many wonderful friends who helped us out with the move:

Norma
Ged
Charlie
Martin
Suzy
Tim
Elizabeth
Ben
Richard
Steve

We could not have done it without you.

Right, onto the actual hobby stuff.

For me this was the Year of Chaos. I finally got my Heralds of Desolation into a fighting (but not winning) condition. I’m particularly pleased with how my Chaos Lord and Terminators turned out, and am very pleased with my converted Hellbrute. I’ve wanted to build a Chaos Space Marine army since the release of the second edition’s Codex Chaos in the mid-nineties but I knew I could never do the army justice, while there are thousands of better looking Chaos forces out there, I’m really happy with the progress I’m making with them.

The next army that I’ve been working on, although not nearly as much as I’d hoped, has been my Bretonnian force. Now, I say ‘working on’, I really mean undercoating and gaming with as I participated in a few more rounds of The Rock in The Badlands campaign with my mates. Unfortunately due to more Real Life reasons, the campaign’s on a bit of a hiatus but we’re optimistic that it’ll restart sometime soon (*prod, prod*).

I also, completely by accident, started a Dark Angel allied contingent for my Imperial Guard army. In truth, this was inevitable since I picked up the Dark Vengeance box set upon its release but I admirably kept temptation at bay for almost a year until a slightly drunken perusal of the iPhone eBay app in July. I now have a solid foundation of core units which I hope to paint up soon.

Finally, and as I direct result of the development above, I entered my first painting competition at my local Games Workshop. Even though I only came third (out of three…), I thoroughly enjoyed the process and would love to repeat the experience at least a couple of times this year. I don’t think I’ll ever be worrying the likes of Golden Daemon, but I think such things will help me improve as a painter.

As for my plans for 2014, well I’ll leave that for a later post. I still have so many boxes to unpack!

This Warmonger’s Christmas (including my Warmonger Secret Santa!)

Given that my wife and I have just bought a house (we moved in on Christmas Eve!), our mutual gift giving was a somewhat modest affair.  That said, my beloved did surprise me and as well as getting me the BluRay box set of Dollhouse (mmm, Eliza Dushku… focus, John!),  she also surprised me with a box of Dark Eldar Wyches.  I’ve been really needing to add more of these crazy elfs to my army so as soon as my Hobby Room is complete I’ll get these churned out.

However first I’ll finish part of my lovely Warmonger Secret Santa gift.  I received a set of snap-fit Warriors of Chaos, a clutch of Doctor Who cards and a copy of Legends of The Space Marines.  The Doctor Who cards were last seen being spirited away by my wife no doubt for some nefarious reason and as I already have a copy of the book I gave it to Tim (he of the Reavers Redemptor posts) as he was one of those who kindly helped us move last week.

As for the three Warriors of Chaos, you have no idea how hard it was not to buy the Army book and start a force as the whole range is lovely.  However in a rare moment of strength I resisted and am halfway through painting them as Warriors of Khorne.  I really wanted to get them done before the move but time ran out, hopefully they’ll be done over the next week or so.

 

 

What I have planned for December

Please note, this is called what I have planned for December, what I actually end up doing is another matter entirely.

Right, now with that excuse proviso out of the way let’s get started.  Obviously there are important Real Life matters that annoyingly get in the way like moving house and the whole festive merry-go-round but I’m leaving those off this list and concentrating on the really important stuff.  So, in no particular order I aim to:

• Complete painting my Imperial Bastion
• Complete the last three mutated Chaos Space Marines
• Complete the Khorne Berserker Rhino
• Experiment with some knightly liveries for my Bretonnians
• Finally finish building my Dark Eldar Ravager and Razorwing and get them basecoated
• Paint a couple of Dark Angels to see how they look

See, not extensive and if I can get through a third of that I’ll be really happy.