Those Who Herd

 Another set of miniatures done a few months ago (August!) but which I've not posted here.

grim ol' One-Eye and his rot sheep

I love this sculpt so much, available from Old School Miniatures. Unlike most of the civilians I paint, this herdsman and his nightmarish rot sheep are intended for wetter fantasy or science fantasy settings - I can see them lurking on the outskirts of Mordheim, on the muddy fields of #turnip28, or even being warded against the Emperor's lackeys by my 40K Death Guard.

More photos under the cut.

Match Recap: Uzkulak Udugs frozen out of victory on a frosty afternoon

  UZKULAK, ZU. -- A brutal offence is the best defence - but sometimes even iron and steak isn't enough.

The exhibition match between the freshly minted Saphery Strikers and home-mine heroes the Uzkulak Udugs ended in a crisp 2-2 draw on Sunday 08 August. 

part-way through setting up

We take you to our commentators, Jim and Bob...

Those Who Work, Those Who Pray: Steel is Stronger Than Flesh

 I've had these finished for a while, intending to do a larger post with them. But I haven't updated since June, so let's do them now.

the Mechanicus has many tools

Here we have three new civilians from three separate ranges. More photos below the cut, including of the building.

Old World Army Challenge: Failure State

 Hello, friends. It's been a few months since I posted. This is partly because my non-hobby world has gotten real busy resulting in an absolute lack of hobby stuff. The other reason is that some of what I was working on was posted over at the Old World Army Challenge site.

a to-do list

Unfortunately, I have fallen and now lie in the Field of Bones. Quite the ignominious end to my third Challenge. I did manage to get some fellows finished though, which you can read about in detail at the OWAC site. I figure I might as well share them here!

After Action Report: Mortem Sororibus

Saint-Saëns was an unremarkable planet, part of a string of systems that had existed in relative peace for several centuries despite their proximity to the Maelstrom. Saint-Saëns (Tithe grade: Solutio Secundus) was an especial jewel of the sector, an ancient world that had served the Emperor for over four millennia. The ruins of pre-Imperial ruins dotted the more civilised places, nestled within the proto-Hives and bustling horizontal cities clustered along the world's river-analogues and alkaline oceans.

Vicchièneche, a chief city
Note the early Imperial ruin, c.700M38

The oligarchical Triarchy maintained the ancient ruins in the interest of history and culture; some wild places were left intact, the better to reflect the glory of the emperor (and allow for the feudal lords' hunting). Saint-Saëns was a place of peace and beauty, a rarity in the grim darkness of the Imperium of Man.

In the early years after the Great Rift, the world fell into fire and doom. The Death Guard had come.

plague zombies pour from the industrial district

Hear Ye! Disturbance in the Dömplatz

Last weekend saw a frightful disturbance in the shattered ruins of the Dömplatz, in southern Mordheim. The cathedral square - already shattered by a multitude of meteorites from the Comet - was invaded by two warbands of nightmarish creatures, squabbling to secure the shattered square.

the Dömplatz

Long-since denuded of the obvious wyrdstone shards, the surviving buildings around the Dömplatz  were rumoured to hold stashes of the cursed rock. The great cathedral that once dominated the south-western corner had been obliterated by the Comet; the font still retained an eerie green glow that even the monstrous avoided. Instead, the warbands sought to secure the two towers in the north-west and west, the graveyard to the south-east, Shallya's abandoned shrine in the east, and the eerie tower of Morr that loomed in the north-east, the memento mori carved into its stonework now laced with terrible new meaning.

Servants of the True Emperor

Pijavic ‘the Impious’ von Carstein and his band of cretins, murderers and shambling horrors sought to secure at least the graveyard and the abandoned tower of Morr. The first would allow Jakob Karg new sources for his grotesque sorcery. The latter amused the vicious little sycophant.

The Crowgor's Herd

The Crowgor sought to despoil the places sacred to Man, to feast on the bones in vault and scrawl the nightmarish sigils of his people across the high vaults of the Mannish gods. Also, he bore grudges against the grey-limbed humans after last time.

Match Recap: Despite turmoil on the pitch, Uzkulak Udugs defeat Skälsbërg Skreechers 2-1

 UZKULAK, ZU. -- Even bringing a screeching owlbear mascot onto field isn't enough sometimes.

Luckily for the newest Chaos Dwarf team out of the Great Skull Land - a region producing a number of great teams this season, including the Uzkulak Juggernaughts - their coach had the tools to handle the flailing mass of teeth and claws.

This Sunday saw the Uzkulak Udugs take the field in their first home exhibition game against the newly-reformed Skälsbërg Skreechers, coached by the infamous LMW.

the two teams line up!

Project: Blood Bowl - Chaos Dwarfs

 I did actually buy Blood Bowl in the 90s. I might have even bought my favourite team; I don't remember. Like so many things, I gave away or sold these things as I moved to university, keeping only my Empire army and a few bits.

Luckily, Games Workshop reprinted them a couple years ago. I finally started painting them for the new ruleset and...

watch the sulphurous, vile avian!

..finished putting the finishing touches to the bull centaur blitzers last night, so the whole project is done! That's quite satisfying, even if did lead me to procrastinate from my Squats commitment until dangerously late in the month...

At any rate, below the cut for more photos of this tusked mob as well as some team name ideas!

After Action Report: The Crystal Fields of Kallix-7

 The seventh spheroid of the Kallix system - planet is too strong a word and dwarf planet implies that the system holds something larger than irregular rocks and swollen balls of unpleasant gasses - is a horrible little rock. It has managed a thin, dreadful atmosphere, a coating of the worst kind of lichen life, and is home to some of the better laser-focusing crystals in the Deep Periphery.

Crystal fields of Kallix-7
Note the caustic lochs created by crystal subduction

Today, it was also the home of a pitched fight between a company of the 1st Canopian Cuirassiers and the pirate company known as Lord Ethan's Exiles, a savage sometime-mercenary brigade that operated in deep space.

some of Lord Ethan's Exiles

A surprisingly well-equipped force, the pirates came with the equivalent of a reinforced company including an entire lance of heavy tanks and aerospace support.

1st Canopian Cuirassiers

The Cuirassiers had only the one company, but they were hardened veterans, and including cutting edge Magistcracy 'Mechs such as an Eyleuka EYL-45A and an Anubis ABS-3MC, both piloted by veteran pilots.

mortem tyrannis: against death

Justice shall be delivered, and doom shall stalk a thousand worlds.

Aspiring Champion-Sergeant Naaman and his squad

Aspiring Champion-Sergeant Joab and his six brothers-in-hell

Aspiring Champion-Sergeant Gehazi and six Once-Men

The final part of the Death Guard showcase, the core of the army: infantry. Three squads of seven posthuman nightmares. This the core of the accidental army - I'd always loved the old monopose plastic plague marines and after winning a couple of accidental eBay auctions.... well.

Apparently the pathway to hell has seven steps. Below the cut for more photos and conversation.

mortem tyrannis: neuron plague

The Weeping. Mutterflux. The Slithering Scourge. Neuron Plague. Somnambuphage. It is known by many names, but we all know the result:

urgh.

...

Two mobs of 14 plague zombies. A mixture of the recent Poxwalker miniatures from Games Workshop (some of them mildly converted), classic Necromunda Plague Zombies, and a bunch of weird conversions the ideas for which were largely nicked from Wilhelm.

These were all mostly painted with washes and largely pre-date Contrast paints, being done in bits and pieces over the last couple years.

Below the cut for a big pile of gross disease-ridden thingos.