Von Bloodbowl

That's right, Sports fans! Jim and Bob here with exciting news.

Not 'arf Jim! New season, new signings: exciting times ahead for Blood Bowl! 

So Games Workshop released a new version of Blood Bowl. It's no secret I'm a fan. I've had many teams over the years, from the ill-starred Black Water Bad Boys, to the surprisingly successful San Fernando Gold Diggers. So when Andy Lawhammer got the new game for his birthday, a new league was on the cards.

I picked up a set this week, and I've decided to go for an Orc team this season. As with my poorly converted and scarcely fielded Marienburg Stealers, NFL team puns are a must for Blood Bowl teams. I rattled through a few options, before settling on...

The New Orcland Hate-Riots.

Now, I'm doing this on my iPad, and Blogger hates iPads, so all the pictures will follow this text dump. :)

I've only painted the one lineman for now, as a proof of concept, but I like the look. Went for the Patriots' rough colour scheme: blue torso, silver/grey helmet and legs, with red and white detailing. I went for a lighter blue, because Blood Bowl, and I improvised the axe-logo to add a splash of red and white to the shoulders.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the look. Will try to get some more painted this week, so the Hate-Riots can take to the field, resplendent in their livery.

It was THIS big!

Where'd he go?

Fire!

No, not The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, rather a unit of archers.

A measly unit of 10 archers, mind, but a unit nonetheless. And that takes me to three units in total. That deserves a Xander happy dance!

Gotta love a snoopy dance!

As I have mentioned before, I like the detail on the archer models, and decided to include lots of little, characterful things like turnips, rats, rabbits an dead birds hanging from the archers' belts. It struck me that they'd likely be hunters, poachers even, and would probaly serve as foragers too (though whether officially or not may depend on the leniency of their liege-lord!).

With every archer down, I grew less enamoured with the fiddly bits, although once they were done, I do like the rag-tag look of them. Have a gander:

Go on, charge us. I dare you!

My only issue with them is the two guys on the left. The command bodies from the Bret. men at arms boxes are really distinctive, and the two here both have relatively decent armour, considering they're supposedly peasant scum. I've tried to cover some of it with colour, but I'm still not loving them.

The Ninth Age rules currently have a bowmen upgrade -  Brigands - that may be worth taking though, and I could see them fitting that type of unit, I suppose. Maybe their armour was looted from fallen enemies?

In addition to finishing the archers, I also finished the missing man at arms, taking that to a properly legal unit of 20:

Better late than never!

So all in, that's three minimum strength units down. I've got 3 more knights in progress, and a base-coated/washed Damsel to finish. And I'll be assembling some mounted yeomen and Knights Aspirant too.

Here's my little warband as is:

Three, count 'em, three whole units!

Now I just need to pin down Andy Lawhammer for a game!

Knights of the Realm

I've finally completed my first five Knights of the Realm. The fifth one was another I foolishly sprayed white, so it took longer and was more fiddly than I'd have liked. I'm quite happy with him, though my attempt to paint round the edges of the transfer has, if anything, made it more obvious. D'oh!

I deliberately didn't over highlight, as I could easily have spent ages on it. But I want big units of Knights, and if I spend weeks on each one that won't happen! I'll spend longer on characters and command, of course, but I need to keep the rank and file to just this level of super-quick highlighting. 

So all together, that's five, if I count the 'champion' as such. Once I have more done, he'll be a Paladin/Duke though. 

Quite happy with them. I plan to be a bit more adventurous with colours on the next batch, maybe start some split fields, etc. 

Already primed are three more KoR (including a standard bearer) and 6 archers to finish that unit off too. I also have a mounted damsel that is base coated and washed, which I'm working on in fits and starts. Next post will hopefully be three full units and a damsel. 

Knightly Update

That's another Knight of the Realm down. This one had a white undercoat, which was really useful...for reminding me why I don't use a white undercoat! Seriously! So fiddly! 

Anyway, he's done now, and I'm quite happy. The transfer on his shield - but not his boarding, weirdly -  is really prominent, i.e. You can see the 'clear' bit around the design. Not sure why, but I may go back and paint blend it in. Or I may not. Have to keep reminding myself he's not a character! 

I have another knight almost base coated, and a mounted damsel too. Both, sadly, also white undercoated. Grr. 

I've ordered some bits and bobs from Fireforge and Gamezone to fill out some holes in the army; will post a lengthier explanation once they arrive...

The 9th Age

So, I haven't posted in ages (pun intended), but that's because I haven't been painting much over the last two years.

With the demise of 8th Edition, the discontinuation of Bretonnian miniatures by GW, and the birth of Age of Sigmar (yuck!), I had little inclination to forge ahead with my Bretonnian army. So they gathered dust, and my paints dried up in their pots. 

Then, a conversation with my good chum Andy Lawhammer, turned to Warhammer, and we discussed playing with older versions of the rules. I mean...why not, right? But as we rattled through the different editions, they all presented problems...too imbalanced, missing rules...

Then Andy told me about The 9th Age, a community based update of 8th Edition. A quick perusal of the rules and forum, and I was sold. Next day, I broke out the paints. :)

I'm no longer collecting Bretonnians, it's the Kingdom of Equitaine now.

I'll post again soon, to discuss army lists, but for now, here's a pic of my expanded Men at Arms unit - technically a peasant levy now. 

I had to give the standard bearer a bloody mark on his shield, as the transfer got knackered during placement. Frustratingly, I only have 19 here. I am sure I assembled 20, so I must have lost one somewhere. Under the T9A rules, I need 20 for a minimum unit. Luckily I have just got my grubby mitts in another battalion box, so I'll be able to round the unit out soon. 

I'm working on two more KotR; next update when one/both are done!