Blog Marcus' painting log 2023

I am indeed saddened.

Also the new tomb King doesn't have many wrappings.

 

Not to mention they did what they shouldn't have done and shoehorned an undead dragon into the Tomb Kings army, likely all because the army in Warmaster had one at a time when GW couldn't be bothered to think of a more Egyptian alternative (in the 6th Edition era when they were more focusing on Tomb Kings having bone constructs rather than stone statues).

Undead dragons should have been left as a Vampire Counts thing, it just looks so out of place in the Egyptian Tomb Kings army. Also I really don't like the regression to the animated corpse idea when they should have continued with the 8th Edition focus on statues, and whoever designed this unit clearly doesn't understand what 'Necrolith' literally means. I can easily see them changing the Necrolith Colossus back to 'Necrolith Bone Giant' now

The only saving grace is that it has a crocodilian head which means one could potentially reinvent it as an idol of the Tomb Kings' version of Sobek, but even then that wouldn't explain the wings. This model is just so wrong on so many levels.

But at least there are options for both a plastic Liche Priest and Tomb King, which saves the need to buy any of the inevitable Forge World Resin versions that will inevitably accompany it in the TOW release.

Not bothered by that so much given he has plenty of clothing, indeed I think that might be why they eschewed wrappings. At least you can use your imagination and envision bandages under his clothes.

 

It's a mismanagement of the plastics budget (tomb kings boxer-hand skeletons wave cheerio from apparent early retirement)

But it won't go to waste. That thing is begging for Arkhan to stand in the howdah.

 

10 more limited palette skaven, bringing me to 15 so far.

 

Above the clamor of chittering rat-men, an unfamiliar hum of electricity courses through the darkened tunnels.

 

"Something is different about the rat horde this time, Steinbeck." Muttered Wren leifsson. Wren and his squadron had been manning the tunnel watch for the last 11 hours, and had repulsed 3 successive waves. Sigmar only knew how many more were marching beneath Chamon's silvered peaks.

Jonus Steinbeck, his armor worn from the days fighting, was sitting on his helmet smoking a pipe. Between lazy smoke rings he managed a reply "how so, Wren? You think the furry bastards have brought up another war-engine."

Wren didn't reply immediately. Jonus had a point. The last contraption the skaven had wheeled forward had left the closest cannon a melted, smoking wreck in one blast. "Not that. They're more disciplined this time. Not charging pell-mell like Kul's bloody dogs."

Suddenly, through the sense shadow of the tunnel ahead, another wall of red eyes and chorus of chittering. But among them, perched on a slight of rubble, was a bigger rat. It was clad head to foot in that rough segmented plate they all wore, and atop a back banner was a braiser of green and black flames.

"Wave ahead! Man your stations, by Sigmar's backside! We will hold them!" Wren didn't completely believe the words he rattled off to his men. In truth, he had seen too many freeholders dragged under the horde and ripped apart. But it would do no good to sacrifice the men's morale. Not when they had no word of reinforcements.

A staccato of blasts signalled the garrison's first efforts, and quickly the battle was joined.

15 more clan rats and a claw leader for the tunnel fighting experiment.

 

Rehab'd a bunch of skaven onto new bases and added basing material.

Made plans for December painting.

 

Wren leifsson ached. The steel helms had been holding the passages for hours. Twelve waves of the rat-men had assailed them. Twelve times they had been repulsed, at cost.

Marshall Gerric was up on the ramparts, directing repair to the redoubt. The Eldritch machines the rats had wheeled forward had torn gaps in the wall, and men worked to patch them. The marshall was an imposing figure, his full plate armor making heavy clanking sounds as he paced the wall. Gerric was a hard man to get along with, but Wren knew he was hardened by constant war.

The outpost at the surface above them was now their home. An isolated standard of sigmar waving in the bleakness of chamon. The families of the free guild were above, though for Gerric it was less so. He had lost his son early in the crusade. Speared by an orc when the column's baggage train was attacked.

The outpost had been a former mining colony, hence the tunnel network. Apparently the inhabitants had been driven out, or worse, by the rat-men.

Steinbeck sat near Wren. The man had been swarmed during the last attack, and his head was bandaged like a Shyishian grave tender where a slashing wound sat, slowly scabbing over. Ever since, the usually jovial steelhelm had been quiet.

"Do you smell that, Wren" Jonus' voice was distant and quiet, almost a whisper. But he had a point. Wren smelt the tang of ozone, like what was left waiting in the air after one of the rats cannon blasts.

"Marshall!" He called. Gerric fixed him with a quizzical stare from forty paces. "We should ready for an attack! I smell their war machines!"

In any other situation, the marshall would probably laugh at him. As it was, he turned to look out from the wall and raised his sword in a signal to the troops along the redoubt.

Within seconds of turning around, however, a curved blade emerged from the darkness and was driven into the Marshalls eye. The rat man clambered up his armored torso even as it fell, prepared to pounce at his next target. Projectiles thrown from the creatures off hand took out two men who had charged in response.

Wren gathered himself to take the fight to the cloaked figure himself. Then, calamity. A roiling cloud of black-green smoke poured across the upper reaches of the tunnel, before a bolt of purest green lightning manifested from it. With tremendous force it struck the group of men repairing the wall. In seconds, their charred corpses littered the works.

It was going to be a long war to make their new home safe.

---------

15 more clan rats, as well as an assassin and a warlock engineer, painted.

 

I felt inspired enough to tackle 3 paint scheme options for 2 generations of Saurus.

View attachment 141459 View attachment 141460 View attachment 141461 View attachment 141462 View attachment 141463

 

13 clanrats

5 savage orcs for my buddy. Basing to be completed en masse on these.



And then I started base coating more kruelboys for my friend.

 

10 kruleboyz for my commission client.

10 skeleton warriors for me.

6 half jezzails.

 

The jezzails have been completed, and only the skeletons remain incomplete. Frankly they are done, I just have to stick the shields on.

 

4 eagle warriors.

 

I really enjoy painting the aztecs, they are extremely colorful.

I'm annoyed at the bicarb i used to set the superglue on the front left guy though. His head would not stay, and I ruined some detail with the bicarb.

 

Still a few small touch-ups to do on these.

 

First element of the Picarde infantry regiment, as well as the plate I based them off of.