Topic: Grand Tournament Diary (NEW Pikemen and Wizard Pictures!)

[Graf von Carroburg]

Well, well. I was about to post on how today's work went, when a thought came to me. I'll do a proper diary of it, and that way seek to inspire/discipline myself! And, of course, better expose myself (no, not like that) to the advice of my esteemed peers.

Really, I do value the input - you guys play many more tournaments than I do, and I can learn a lot. In exchange, I hope to show everyone a thing or two about fast and (hopefully) effective painting. Maybe at the end I'll turn it into an article on speed painting armies!

So, without further ado...

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Saturday, May 14, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. 14 days til the GT.

Coffees consumed: 3, VG. Plus a lot of plastic glue inadvertenly inhaled, which has given me a headache.

Units assembled: All of my Reiksguard. All of one pike unit plus maybe a rank of the next? Handgunners are still failing to inspire me.

I'm reposting this picture of the Reiksguard, cos I adore them (two still need crests, and the Reiksmarshall needs his helmet wings). They look huge and intimidating and quite quite scary, which is not what I want when we're talking attracting shooting. They are unmistakably inner circle! Still, they will be a nice centrepiece. They also make my pistoliers look miniscule by comparison. Like, very small. I will deal with this issue later.

MY GAME PLAN: Seeing that I have a formidable task ahead of me, strategy is everything. A visually impressive army as a whole is more important than individual models being perfect. I am assembling the remainder of the army all at once, and building their display board at the same time, to ensure cohesion. And, that everything is made up. They will then all be undercoated, and basecoated.

I have a (brace yourselves) seven coat highlight process for my standard infantry's cream uniforms. This takes only about half an hour, as each coat is watery and they're done in batches. I can probably get away with five (black/graveyard, graveyard, graveyard/kommando, kommando, kommando/white).

So, each model will be highlighted up to the mid tone. I will then pour my energies into the front rank or two of each unit, giving the banners special attention. Only once they look great will I move onto the back rankers. My modelling reflects this - the front rows have breastplates and tassets, plus lots of equipment, whereas the back ranks are lucky to get a breastplate. As well as making the unit look scarier, this is how real units were formed up - the well equipped veterans in front.

I plan to put aside a full day to do characters. This will not, repeat, not, be the day before the comp.

Anyhow, I tire. So, more tomorrow! Enjoy the blurry pic!



Deep linking is NOT behaving it seems. I think this one will work though.

Cheers,

Eden

[Kernschatten]

I love living vicariously through others blood and sweat! Keep it coming.

I have a (brace yourselves) seven coat highlight process for my standard infantry's cream uniforms. This takes only about half an hour, as each coat is watery and they're done in batches. I can probably get away with five (black/graveyard, graveyard, graveyard/kommando, kommando, kommando/white).

What color do you use to go seven coats? Bleached bone?

I ask because I have been adding a drop of Scorched Earth to  Graveyard Earth>Kommando Khaki>Bleached Bone to paint leather and adding DA Green to the same for Orc skin. I've been really happy with the results as it makes for very consistent highlighting.

[Graf von Carroburg]

If I'm doing the full seven,  before I put on the final highlight, I mix up a watery coat of Graveyard Earth and Desert Yellow, and wash/glaze the uniform. Then highlight with Kommando, and then Kommando/White. This adds a little more warmth and depth, which really helps when there's a deep block of troops.

Cheers,

Eden

[Graf von Carroburg]

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Monday, May 16, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. 12 days til the GT.

Progress is slow. Kinda bummed out cos I missed out on some jobs I applied for, so a generally slow day. I am trying to do seven coats on my troops, half drybrushing the first five for speed, then cleaning it up with the ink and highlight. Not the most efficient, but these colours are so thin that the multiple coats are needed to cover.

Nothing worth posting pictures of - the Reiksguard are heavily WIP, and pikemen are pikemen.

In other news, my list is taking shape, though the jury's still out on whether Arch-Lectors are allowed this tournament. BTW, go over to the Parade Ground and let me know what you think!

http://www.warhammer-empire.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7644

Cheers,

Eden

[CM Dante]

I also love to see weblogs like this, it's inspiring and also provides an insight into techniques and thought process behind the minis. I look forward to seeing more!

Cheers,

Dante (returned)

[Graf von Carroburg]

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Thursday, May 19, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. 8 days til the GT.

Okay, now things are really getting interesting around here!  I've got the day off tomorrow and Monday, so basically four solid days of painting with my only relaxation being the odd break to do a university assignment. Delightful.

Meanwhile, I am assembling my second Pike unit right now and they are speeding along. As are Handgunners, and they look a lot better than I anticipated. Half the figures seem to be too detailed, and the other half not enough!

Will make a final decision tomorrow as to what my general will be, and convert him then!

Any thoughts on the merit of an Elector (and his Griffon Banner) vs an Arch Lector - roughly the same price!

Cheers,

Eden

[Hagen_von_Loewenstein]

For "arch lector vs. EC"-questions I think those two threads might help a bit:
http://www.warhammer-empire.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6489&highlight=arch+lector
http://www.warhammer-empire.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6666&highlight=arch+lector

And thank you VERY much for that picture. The two knights on the left gave me a great idea for a little variety on my Reiksguard on foot-helmets...

[Graf von Carroburg]

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Saturday, May 21, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. 6 days til the GT. (!)

Well, there's been a lot of gluing, and cutting, and not so much painting. I've converted a well cool looking wizard [better picture below].

The staff bit on the base is getting glued to the main staff (which gets cut down accordingly) just as soon as I can be bothered drilling it...I think it's from the old Wood Elf mage on warhawk.

Meanwhile, the list has undergone a radical overhaul. I've realised that I save about 100 points taking spearmen instead of pikemen. Sure I lose attacks, but, I make up for it by being able to have a detachment. So, I lose two ranks of pike attacks (10), and gain a rank of detachment Free Company attacks (10)! And, they lose rank bonus. And I can lead it with a character.

Still hung up on the Arch-Lector/Elector dilemma. The spears will be in blocks of 30, which makes the Griffon Banner VERY good. I could put it on the Greatswords..hmm. And shift the Battle Standard to a spear unit, but no magic banner, just something fighty.

I like this more by the second.

Will post list shortly.

Cheers!

-Eden

[st1v xtr1m]

AND, you free your rare slots

[Graf von Carroburg]

Right. You know you're in trouble when you say to a friend:

"I figure I can motivate myself with sleep deprivation.."

More so when you follow it up with:

"I'm going to try to glue sand on bases while cooking dinner, so they're ready to spray by the time I'm done."

Worse yet, the reason I decided against that is only cos it's too cold to spray outside anyway.

So I shall round out the evening converting the remaining pistoliers and my characters. I may do both an Elector AND an Arch-Lector to be safe.

Here's some pistoliers, the one on the right is about 2/3rds done...



UPDATE:

Well, the Pistoliers didn't get done! But, Wizard's finished, a whole bunch of stuff is based, and I've nearly finished a dead hard standard bearer who's climbing up onto an Orc and sticking the banner pole into his back! Nowhere near as lewd as it sounds!

Pictures in the morning!

Cheers,

Eden

[Graf von Carroburg]

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Sunday, May 22, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. 5 days til the GT.

Things are looking up. Specifically, my second pike unit looks awesome (IMHO):



I particularly like the banner bearer sticking his Griffon Banner pole into the Orc's back. The Orc is, of course, still missing bits. I'll actually be putting my General to his left, so will model the head and maybe and arm on his base.

Here's the wizard completed also:



Pikes on the left, blurry Greatswords on the right.

Hope you like them! Any comments appreciated as always!

Cheers,

Eden

[FlameKnight]

Heh, awesome. Are the pikes a little bent though? And what are you putting on the tops of the pikes?

I like the pistoliers, did you use the volands venerators (?) minis?

Lovely, lovely models.

[Hieronymous]

Good work!

These pike are a little long though

I very much like your great swords! Their white-eged armour is just lovely.

Have you decided on whether to take the Elector or the Arch-Lector?

[PLAY4FUN]

Very impressive, especially the armour on the greatswords and pistoliers.  

And you do all this while rushed and sleep deprived  .. hangs head and sighs ..

 :clap:

[Graf von Carroburg]

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Monday, May 23, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. 5 days til the GT.

It's 12:04 AM. I've just finished painting. Though, in fairness, I spent two hours preparing a huge spaghetti dinner for the family. So, I did reasonably well. All my new stuff - Pikes, Wizard, a couple of Handgunners - have had the first two coats on their uniforms. I am surprised with the speed at which this was done. I think it pays to be a bit messy, knowing that the wash will smooth things out and a sharp highlight or two works wonders. The promise of sleep when I finished was very inspirational indeed!

This philosophy will not extend to many of the very fiddly Handgunner models though. It's like the sculptor said, wow, these poses are crap, lets make up with lots of extra folds and slashes and maybe they won't notice.

@ Flameknight - Yeah, Venators with Militia arms. They'll be topped with spikes from 40K Chaos Vehicle sprues, a little smaller than plastic spear points and easy to get in bulk. Now that I think of it, I'd prefer some slightly more realistic points (i.e. just a smooth ferrule tapering to a point like on real pikes - anything that went in on itself would have stuck too easily) but this is something I can redo later if I want.

@ Hieronymous - If we're being strictly accurate, the pikes are close to the right length, maybe a tad short. Real ones were 18-20 feet IIRC, three or so times the size of a man.

Elector is looking likely, he's a safer bet, not least cos he's cheaper, and I'm experienced with one. No time to playtest new lists!

BTW, I like the pic on your Avatar - Carroburg colours on the sleeve and all! Where's it from? Warcry? If so, what's the card called...I'd like to pull up the picture.

Cheers all!

-Eden

[The Village Idiot]

VERY nice stuff! I'm a little worried seeing how much you still have to paint in 5 days. Paint like the wind! You MUST be finished PRIOR to leaving for the tournament, otherwise you will be up until the wee early morning hours of the convention...and very sleep deprived for the event. Not much fun at all.

Wait...now that I think about it...I was awake until 3 hours prior to the Charlotte GT finishing bases...and I won it!

As they say on the sunny South..."Git 'er done!"

The Village Idiot

[spite]

Some great stuff there I really like the colour scheme with your Infantry can you tell me how you did it? and BTW its not from Warcry I would know as love playing it, you?

[Graf von Carroburg]

Hey spite, check out the front page....there's a rundown on the colours used.

And Tim, my man, thanks for the encouragement! I'm planning to get home on the back of soft scores - it nearly worked for me last time. See, it's in my hometown, so not far to travel, but that screwed me up last time. I spent too long touching up that morning, missed my bus into town, and missed the first game. I worked out that, even if I had been massacred, assuming average (3/5) scores for comp and sports would have given me second place! (I got 4/5 most games, 'cept for one Orc player who chipmunked me for cannoning his, wait for it, two Wyverns and two Giants. With my one cannon.)

But, without further ado:

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Monday, May 23, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. Four days until the GT. 11:26 pm.

A quick rundown:

Pikemen (53): 15 completed; 25 assembled, basecoated; 13 unassembled!!

Handgunners (26): 2 completed; 3 mostly completed; 4 assembled, basecoated; most of the rest assembled as they're one or two piece.

Greatswords (18): 8 completed; 2 assembled, basecoated; 10 assembled and undercoated. This unit I started ages back, and would like a retouch on, to make the red darker.

Free Company (16): Nothing here, I just added them to the list!

Reiksguard Knights (6): ALL assembled, basecoated and looking great. Champion finished.

Pistoliers (6): One finished. 3 assembled. 2 still want arms!

Artillery (2 or 3): Assembled, basecoated with one crew. May add a Volley Gun. Either way, these won't take long!

Huntsmen (5): Another late addition! Just stripped the old paintjobs, so they're assembled and converted and awaiting spray!

Characters (4): One wizard is assembled and basecoated. The other's just been added to the list, still working out how to make him! The BsB will be simple, I may use my limited ed one with a new head. The Elector will be more interesting. Still playing with a few different ideas there.

Wow. It's not that bad, is it? I have uni all day tomorrow and work Wednesday. In the evenings, I plan to get all the unassembled stuff (30 odd infantry, a few handgunners, 2 pistoliers) glued, sanded, sprayed and basecoated.

Thursday will be a painting frenzy, attempting to highlight the entire army in one day! This sounds crazy, but really ain't that bad, if I get a good production line happening. That and I won't sleep until they're done.

Friday will be a bit special. I'm reserving the whole day, apart from one tutorial in the morning, for painting characters and banners. These need to really look great if I'm to stand a chance at Best Army. I hope I get enough sleep! Friday evening my lovely girlfriend has gotten tickets to the theatre. I hope I'll be finished and able to enjoy it. If not, early night and then a 5 am start tends to get better results than an all nighter, in my experience.

Then there's the display base. Hopefully I'll get the stuff tomorrow or Wednesday, sand it overnight, spray, and drybrush. At this stage, it looks like it will be mostly sand, with dead Orcs and Empire, and maybe a wrecked gun a la Tim's half-pike unit (love it!). I have some old War Wagon and STank bits too...(heh, there's what to do with a War Wagon). IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS, DO TELL!

No piccies today, as everything's looking really brown. When the Pistoliers are all glued, I'll take some, as I'm really happy with the conversions!

Cheers,

Eden

[Graf von Carroburg]

REIKSMARSHALL'S LOG. Tuesday, May 24, in the 2005th year of our lord Sigmar. Three days until the GT.

Today I mooted. For those unfamiliar with this law school tradition, think debating with a tie, a whole lot of anxiety and three judges who can and do talk back. Then I went to see Henry Rollins. For those unfamiliar, lead singer of punk (?) band Black Flag now doing hilarious and witty stand up.

The common thread? Neither of these things made my army one iota more painted. Ahem.

Oblivion is approaching....I may just start painting when I get home tomorrow night and not stop til I'm done.

Cheers,

Eden

[st1v xtr1m]

i'm just SOO bewildered with the amount of devotion seen here, but i can't help wondering... WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T YOU START SOONER??

[The Village Idiot]

Paint!!!

The Village Idiot
Getting worried.

[cisse]

...but i can't help wondering... WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T YOU START SOONER??

That's what I'm asking myself every time I have to work all night long when I have to do an exam or presentation the next day. I always thought I'd grow out of doing everything last minute, but I don't.

[Senor D]

Go man go!

And take more pictures!

[Graf von Carroburg]

Ha, well, I tend to do EVERYTHING last moment...and was backed up with a lot of assignment work. Then I found I had to fly to Melbourne for a couple of days for a job interview (think about as far as Boston to New York, maybe?).

So, I've been charging hard but yeah.

Probably the scariest moment of the whole ordeal this morning, when I woke up after finally a full night's sleep raring to go, to find that there was NO POWER! Yeah, a brown-out (not quite a blackout). A tense hour or so before it came back on...no TV to distract me. Scarcely enough power to make coffee.

Yeah. We're all good now, and I've been assembling free company by the light coming through the window.

Tell me, does this sound reasonable? I don't want to use FC models, cos they're too rabble for my disciplined Reiklanders. So, I have converted swordsmen with no shields, and a parrying dagger instead. I've made the dirk from the point of a halberd. The units will be known as "The Carroburg Fencing Society" - all the swordsmen wannabes who couldn't make it into the regulars.

Would this count as WYSIWIG? As they're clearly NOT swordsmen, as they lack shields.

Cheers,

Eden

[Graf von Carroburg]

Did I just use the word "rabble" as an adjective? Maybe I do need more sleep.

-Eden