GuitaRasmus

Squeeeee! NZ preorders are up, and Skaven can not only take Rat Ogres, they have Stormfiends too! 🤩 I'm sooo excited about this. Really looking forward to building Tzeentch, Skaven, Kharadron and some Slaves to Darkness warbands (although a bit disappointed about the lack of options on StD). https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NZ/Boxed-Games?N=1997019759+3206404541&Nr=AND(sku.siteId%3ANZ_gw%2Cproduct.locale%3Aen_NZ_gw)&Nrs=collection()%2Frecord[product.startDate+<%3D+1579951800000+and+product.endDate+>%3D+1579951800000]&view=all

Kinda miffed... I was hoping for some completely new sculpts to use as characters in my Maggotkin army, these look very similar to the present Blight Kings. Oh well, I'll wait until the model photos come out to judge them. Probably will get them anyway.

As a native Scandinavian, I am intimately familiar with viking myths (in Denmark we have a 35 year old running comic about viking mythology, that almost everyone reads at some point in their childhood), and trust me, an eight legged horse is pretty normal compared to how weird some of the myths are. The myth of creation pretty much takes the cake: "Before there was soil, or sky, or any green thing, there was only the gaping abyss of Ginnungagap. This chaos of perfect silence and darkness lay between the homeland of elemental fire, Muspelheim, and the homeland of elemental ice, Niflheim. Frost from Niflheim and billowing flames from Muspelheim crept toward each other until they met in Ginnungagap. Amid the hissing and sputtering, the fire melted the ice, and the drops formed themselves into Ymir (“Screamer”[1]), the first of the godlike but destructive giants. Ymir was a hermaphrodite and could reproduce asexually; when he slept, more giants leapt forth from his legs and from the sweat of his armpits. As the frost continued to melt, a cow, Audhumla (“Abundance of Humming”[2]), emerged from it. She nourished Ymir with her milk, and she, in turn, was nourished by salt-licks in the ice. Her licks slowly uncovered Buri (“Progenitor”[3]), the first of the Aesir tribe of gods. Buri had a son named Bor (“Son”[4]), who married Bestla (perhaps “Wife”[5]), the daughter of the giant Bolthorn (“Baleful Thorn”[6]). The half-god, half-giant children of Bor and Bestla were Odin, who became the chief of the Aesir gods, and his two brothers, Vili and Ve. Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world from his corpse. They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles, vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brains, and the sky from his skull. Four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points, held Ymir’s skull aloft above the earth. The gods eventually formed the first man and woman, Ask and Embla, from two tree trunks, and built a fence around their dwelling-place, Midgard, to protect them from the giants." Now, GW's writers are creative, but I think it'd take some "herbs" for them to top this in weirdness. Sorry for the derail.

Oh, I'd love some skyborne grots. I've had this mad idea of a squig driven helicopter in my head for some time - imagine a Da Vinci-esque helicopter, but driven by a hamster wheel with a squig or two inside, chasing a grot.

Never really had use for such a kit myself, but I would definitely add some sort of light - preferably with a kelvin scale close to daylight. From my experience hotel lighting is more about a cosy feel, than precise representation of colours.

Why not just thin the pva down, and brush it gently onto the flock? It should soak into it pretty easily.

Apparently quite a few mistakes in the Tome of Champions (also reg. icons on the FeC rules) - Varanscribe has it at 45, can't imagine why it would cost 195.

Holy cow... I have no time at all for starting a new army (6 month old boy and still working on finishing my Maggotkin and only 50% done with my Squig army), but I am almost 100% sure I'd have to start that army. Oh my.

Blast from the past - a somewhat indulgent post, feel free to skip it. Hi guys - not much news on the painting front, but I was up in my parents attic a week or two ago, and I stumbled upon my first ever miniatures. First, a prelude. In 1990, Tiny-GuitaRasmus (then 8 years of age) was rumbling through the kids section of my local library (my parents were always good at dragging me along, giving me a lifelong passion of books) and I stumbled upon a small book called (in danish) "Figurer til Rollespil; sådan maler du dem" (Miniatures for Roleplaying; how to paint them): (Fun fact; back then there were actually serious newspaper articles being written about roleplaying and Dungeons and Dragons leading young people to devil-worshipping! ) Tiny-GuitaRasmus was immediately blown away by the pictures of the tiny monsters, orcs, warriors and other miniatures, and took it home. I remember poring over the pictures again and again, and being completely enamoured with these small worlds you could build. My dad, who was (and still is) an avid model train enthusiast, quickly seized the opportunity to get his son interested in model building, and took me to a giant (at least it was to me back then) model kit shop in Copenhagen, where they had racks upon racks of miniature blisters. I spent a long time trying to choose the coolest miniatures in the shop, and eventually decided upon a a pack of (then unbeknownst to me, they were just cool) Grenadier Fantasy Lords Dragon Men: (picture from ebay) I remember going home and getting straight to work - ripping the miniatures out of the box, being completely oblivious of the concept of mold lines, and choosing a few of my dads Humbrol Enamel paints (when we wasn't walking to school in the snow, that's what we used back then! And we liked it! ) and got to work: Please note the exquisite sense of colours - the bright vivid green, the beautiful shading made with a fine point sharpie, and the orange used on the inside of the tail - clearly didn't have the patience to let the green dry first. Also the decision to use brown on everything that isn't green or armour - horns, bow, arrow, quiver, belt, weapon handle - you name it. I didn't have a concept of undercoat either, so the paint is just applied (one thick coat of course!) in enough amounts to cover the metal. For a finishing touch, you can spot the remains of the classic modelling flock (which I think was coloured dried, cut up grass bits) on the base. Oh well, we all have to start somewhere. Some months later I got hold of some actual Citadel acrylic paints, and decided to repaint one of the models (an 8 or 9 year old isn't the most nostalgic of creatures), just painting over the existing paint job, making the coat even thicker, and not really making any significant improvement: At least I used a proper metal colour for the armour, some red for the eyes, and, apparently, some weird decision to highlight the wings using a darker green? I believe the green is the legendary Goblin Green paint. I think it's safe to say that these models started it all for me; I LOVED it from the moment I started slapping paint on. I used to play with these for hours, and spent countless hours making my own games with them. I think it was during the autumn I got them and for Christmas my parents gave my HeroQuest - which took this from the start of a hobby to an outright obsession. I loved that game - the miniatures, the furniture, the board - everything. I spent so much time painting those models, and trying to make them look just like the painted models on the side of the box - of course, failing miserably, but making progress in the process. From then on I think I wished for some miniatures for every birthday and Christmas for many years, aside from the many times my parents to me to a model store to get some (they could see I was really enjoying it) and I used to sit for hours in my room, trying to make the small monsters come to life with paint and brush. I even remember getting Space Hulk (1.st ed) for Christmas the year after, and realising the rules were in english, I sat down with my dads Oxford English to Danish Dictionary, and basically taught myself english to be able to play. I went on to getting into a gaming club, and immersed myself completely in the universe of Warhammer, both 40k and Fantasy - it really was an all consuming passion. Flash forward to me starting in high school at 15, discovering that girls were interesting, so was playing music (and the latter could help me with the former!) I put aside the miniatures for many years. When I was 28 or 29 I was working at a youth club, and some of the boys there were getting interested in Warhammer, I was asked if it was something I could help them get into. "Sure, why not", I said, and started searching the web for ideas and miniatures - I was blown away at how far the hobby had come in the 15 years I had been away from it - plastic miniatures had gotten soooo good, the models were better than ever, there was plastic terrain (we used to build everything ourselves from polystyrene sheets, cardboard, etc), the paint range was a lot better and the washed made painting miniatures much easier - and there was a huge amount of background material (books, audiobooks, and so on) to dig into - well, like an old drug addict, I relapsed big time. I started buying a few miniatures here and there (you know, just professional interest!) and enjoyed painting and especially converting them so much, that I joined a local gaming club, where I met lots of cool likeminded adults, and evolved a lot painting and conversion wise. Flash forward 9 years to today; the arrival of my son this summer has meant that there isn't nearly the same hobby time as there used to be (not that I would trade parenthood for the world), but I still love the hobby just the same, if not even more, as when I was a kid. I would love for my son to get into the hobby himself - but really, I think the lesson to take from my parents example is that if you see a spark of interest or passion in your kids, no matter what it is - you take it and run with it. So, thanks mom and dad, for indulging me in my weird interest back then - it meant the world to "Tiny GuitaRasmus". PS: I love to hear some stories about how you guys got started.

I've gotten my mittens on some more of the old WHFB scenery, and they are indeed beautiful kits. However, I've gotten quite a few of the old Chapels (bought as fortified manors - hence the watchtowers I've also got), and I thought it would be boring to just have duplicate manors or chapels - so I've bashed them together to make a fortress of some sort. Besides, I really like being able to interact with terrain, not just move around it. I've used more pet shop cork bark for the cliffs and rocks, and used some walls to make the walkway and the walls for the tower. I think it works pretty well, although it obviously needs quite a bit of detailing: I've used a piece of the Garden of Morr as an outhang for one of the buildings - I obviously need to something with it. Also some supports for the other outhangs too. I'll lay some wood planks on the walkway and the tower floor: I've also managed to grab a completely mint (still foil on the box) Dreadstone Blight, one of my favourite pieces, and promptly got it assembled (still needs the top floor). I doubt I'll do any converting to this one - I really like it as is - although it will get a nice base:

Nothing much, I'm afraid. The Squig(tm), now 4 months old, has a tendency to take up a lot of my previous hobby time. Oh well, in a few short years, I'll have my own base-coating-slave. I've gotten my mittens on some more of the old WHFB scenery, and they are indeed beautiful kits. However, I've gotten quite a few of the old Chapels (bought as fortified manors - hence the watchtowers I've also got), and I thought it would be boring to just have duplicate manors or chapels - so I've bashed them together to make a fortress of some sort. I've used more pet shop cork bark for the cliffs and rocks, and used some walls to make the walkway and the walls for the tower. I think it works pretty well, although it obviously needs quite a bit of detailing: I've used a piece of the Garden of Morr as an outhang for one of the buildings - I obviously need to something with it. Also some supports for the other outhangs too. I'll lay some wood planks on the walkway and the tower floor: I've also managed to grab a completely mint (still foil on the box) Dreadstone Blight, one of my favourite pieces, and promptly got it assembled (still needs the top floor). I doubt I'll do any converting to this one - I really like it as is - although it will get a nice base:

I do love me some skirmish, and yours look very interesting - excited to see where it's going. I've worked on a Skirmish system in the past as well, http://aos28warband.blogspot.com , but it is in need of update, especially with the exciting new mechanics of Warcry as inspiration. PM me if you want to work out something reg. a collaboration or feel free to use it for inspiration.

Sometimes an idea is so dumb, that you just have to do it. Hence... Riding on the Witch King of Cankerwalls monstrous mounts wrecking ball... The Nurgling... Smiley Virus: (He's sitting on this guy, I forgot to take a pic with the nurgling added): Please tell me you get the joke. Otherwise, I'm too far gone into "dad-joke-country".

Sometimes an idea is so dumb, that you just have to do it. Hence... Riding on the Witch King of Cankerwalls monstrous mounts wrecking ball... The Nurgling... Smiley Virus: (He's sitting on this guy, I forgot to take a pic with the nurgling added: Please tell me you get the joke. Otherwise, I'm too far gone into "dad-joke-country".

If that's the case, and you are not allowed to play unpainted armies like you want to, then I'd go find someone else to play against. It sounds like you are not getting a lot of satisfaction as is. There are lots of cool, not socially awkward people playing this game, playing either in gaming clubs or their own homes - go find them! You can easily get both - someone cool to hang out with, that doesn't cheat, that has a nice painted army - you just have to go find them. Ps: I'm guessing you don't have kids yourself - having 3 hours to play a game in a home with a wife and kids, completely uninterrupted, is a rare luxury. I know my wife does everything she can to make me have some time for myself when I have buddies over for a game, but if the kid is barfing, the stew is boiling over and she hasn't gone to the bathroom since noon, you'd have to be a cold hearted dude to just say "Sorry honey, I'm busy murdering my buddies little plastic men."

I think we understand you just fine, we just don't agree with you. Playing against unpainted armies DOES hurt my enjoyment of the game - for me (and many others) this game is all about IMMERSEMENT. That's the reason we buy expensive, beautiful miniatures, build awesome terrain and read fluff. Immersement. Building a small world, playing out a heroic combat, etc. etc. That element tends to disappear when faced with a grey blob, and what is left is just a game. Why bother with terrain or miniatures then? Why not just have cardboard cutouts with writing on them? Using your logic, would you find it fun to play against blank bases with unit names written on them, on a pink piece of cloth, with kitchen utensils as terrain? Your opinion is absolutely valid and you are absolutely entitled to it. However, 95% of other wargamers I've met, be they casual, competitive or tournament organisers, want to play against something painted. You don't have to make them perfect - you just have to make an effort. It has nothing to do with being brainwashed by GW, stockholders or anything else - it has everything to do with immersement. My main enjoyment in this hobby is modelling - converting and assembling - however, I still paint my stuff, both for me, but also for my opponents enjoyment. Seriously, lower your standards. Do you really find it better to have unpainted miniatures, than having decently or ok painted ones? To me, that's like preferring to starve, rather than eating ramen noodles. If you find contrast paints hard to use, just use washes - I've done that for years, with great results. You are free to set up a gaming community where you can play painted, unpainted, unassembled, cardboard pieces, whatever. Just keep in mind that there is probably a reason why almost all tournaments (even independent ones) have mandatory painting. Edit: your free time is for you to decide what to do with. No one can tell how to spend it. However, no one can tell me how to spend mine either, and having limited spare time too, I want my wargaming time to be quality time - so I choose to play against painted miniatures. Most people I know do to. I have nothing against playing against someone who just started an army a couple of months ago, and them being mostly unpainted - however, if you still play unpainted after a year or two, we're just not on the same page hobby-wise (you are probably just interested in the game, I am interested in immersement) and it's probably better if we both find another opponent.

Thanks! I just hot glued a block of xps foam to the base, and hot glued the tower on top of that - then hot glued the pieces of cork bark to the block and base, and filled some gaps with filler and rocks/gravel.

Thanks! I just hot glued a block of xps foam to the base, and hot glued the tower on top of that - then hot glued the pieces of cork bark to the block and base, and filled some gaps with filler and rocks/gravel.

A bit of progress on my Screaming Oak conversion (Nurgle Corrupted Treelord): I'm also experimenting with basing material for my terrain - after having tried various ways to stop MDF from warping, I stumbled across The Terrain Tutor trying out PVC Foam Board, and decided to try it out. I haven't gotten to gluing sand and stones onto it, but theoretically it shouldn't warp, since it is non absorbent, and I am pretty impressed with the weight, strength and workability so far:

Great reviews - Would you mind sharing the recipe for the dais?

I'm sorry if I'm being slow, but is it the same set, just two different pics? The colours look very different. If the bottom one is true to the real thing, would you mind sharing your recipe? It looks great.

Thanks - after pondering about it for a bit, I'm leaning towards "screaming at the sky" as well. I'm pretty sure they would warp too - cork is very porous and not very strong. I've started work after summer vacation and The SquigTM is taking up a lot of my already sparse spare time - but last saturday I got my dirty mittens on the Warcry starter set, and over the last week I've gotten the ruins assembled - they look great, and I'm looking forward to both using them in AoS and trying out Warcry - looks like good fun.

Thanks a lot for the reply. Yup, they ARE great looking, aren't they? Some people say that they don't fit into the aesthetic of AoS, but I disagree - I think they look great as sort of a ruined or abandoned ghost town. I'm going to paint them in eerie desolate tones, and combine them with some of the new Warcry ruins - I've always loved city fights, and adore beautiful Mordheim tables, so this will be very cool as a battleground. Reg. the Treelord; Thanks. Yeah, the more I'm looking at him, the more I'm convinced that the upwards screaming head is more characterful. A buddy of mine commented that it seems that he is more or less uncaring what is going on around him, he just smashes whatever is in his way, completely lost in his agony.

Indeed I have. 😂 I blame an 8 weeks old baby boy and hence, very little sleep. 😉

The price of printed cardstock in the numbers GW are printing is very cheap. The logistics needed to keep track of what languages the packs are in, is not. You can be pretty sure that they decided that it’s much cheaper to just put all the cards in the pack, rather than keep track of which is which. 😊