Sixth AHPC - December 2015

I managed two entries into the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge in December - not bad going considering I had some bits to finish off before it started, and the Christmas festivities with families. Well the second wasn't posted until January, but I'll claim it for adember as 95% of the painting was done then. 

First was a trio of Nationalist officers for my Spanish Civil War project. First, a figure of unknown provenance in a Germanic uniform, that I did in the khaki of the Condor Legion. Not someone who would usually grace a platoon level action in Chain of Command, though perhaps he might stray too close to the front while surveying the abilities of the Nationalist forces or the effects of experimental tactics by the Condor Legion. The uniform isn't strictly right, I think, as the tunic should be open necked and worn with a shirt and tie. But never mind. As a corpulent fellow, I couldn't resist giving him the flushed look of a man who loves his Riesling and Rioja. 

Also, a Nationalist officer who was actually was the show freebie from Partizan this year, meant to represent the actor and producer Sir Donald Wolfit in 'Lawrence of Arabia'. Sculpted by Bill Thornhill. This seemed my best use for him, as he looks a bit like he is giving a facist salute. He has the 'galetta' showing the three stars of a Colonel, so again not someone to grace the table as a combatant in Chain of Command. 

Finally, a Carlist Platoon Sergeant, hurriedly painted in a day to try to match Juan's swift pace. From Empress miniatures once again. 

The second entry was for the 'Nostalgia' theme round - a deftly chosen round with some reall touching entries. I almost entirely paint and game historicals these days, but like many of my generation, I got into this hobby in my youth via the juggernaut of Games Workshop. It has been a long time since I've had much enthusiasm for GW's products or games, but I look back fondly on those formative years, and have maintained a smidgen of interest in what GW have been producing (and perhaps perverse fascination with some of their more outlandish business practices). Personally, I  don't appreciate much of their design aesthetic, but occasionally I find they do still nail it with impressive miniatures. 

But GW's recent replacement of the classic Warhammer world with 'Age of Sigmar' has brought Gharak back into the miniatures hobby after a couple of years hiatus; certainly unexpected.  And his enthusiasm to do some kind of AoS/Realms of Chaos mashup with warband-based narrative games has piqued my interest a little, I admit. What could be more nostalgic for me than painting up some Games Workshop minis? 

So, for this theme round, I presented seven Games Workshop plastic Plaguebearers, the lesser Daemons of Burgle, Lord of Decay and pestilence. 

I didn't take the theme as far as the classic, Oldhammer style sculpts, preferring instead these recent offerings. GW are refreshing a lot of their Chaos minis for AoS, but the Nurgle stuff, which I think is a few years old now, is holding up well. I quite liked this kit for giving Plaguebearers a scarier look, as for a few years they were the naff cousins of the other lesser daemons. Though I did find it a bit light on options. I avoided the usual green-hued skin in favour of a sallow grey. 

Seven is the sacred number of Nurgle in GW's old lore, so a fitting number to paint up (absolutely nothing to do with that being how many I thought I could paint this week, and a number that didn't include the goofier standard bearer or musician).

A wildly different topic meant I could mess about with some new techniques - including GW's 'Typhus Corrosion' paint from their new 'technical' range. A bit odd, like mid-brown wash with added grit, that dries very matt. Something to experiment with in combination with pigments, sometime. 

I also tried to do some new bases, using a strange method of dripping superglue onto PVA - it dries in odd, naturalistic patterns, that I painted as some kind of pestilential swamp. It's glossy, but doesn't come out very well in these photos. 

Of the seven, this one ended up being my favourite - I liked his pose, cute chipped front tooth and the fact he has such a wide mouth you can see his tonsils. Who knew plague deamons had tonsils?!

This should just be a dalliance, I cannot see myself investing in mounds of pricey plastic kits. In fact, I've already been hard at work on the historicals...

Gaming-wise, the first club of January, Stu had his copy of 'Zombicide: Black Plague', the fantasy version of CMoN's miniatures board game juggernaut. 

It was lots of fun for a light evening's entertainment. I got to play the wizard, hilariously hurling magic missiles into my own teammates because I hadn't found, nor would anyone lend me a sword. 

The first attempt was something of a disaster, as we had to improvise a new plan when an un-killable abomination emerged very quickly. It was looking ok here, as we passed and were conducting a fighting withdrawal from the zombie spawn point, but a few card turns later, dozens of them appeared and we were overwhelmed. 

We replayed the same scenario, with a somewhat better understanding of how to play and a new plan. All was going perfectly swimmingly - I was even the proud owner of a sword. 

We were making our way to the final objective in the same bottom right corner when the same thing happened: a few spawn cards and many zombies:

Maybe this corner is where all the cool zombies hang out. 

But by this time we were tooled up and spoiling for a fight. With Dane, Hendrick and Stu heroically  sacrificing themselves/being eaten, Paul and I could fireball and hack our way to the objective and claim the win. 

Oh, and finally, Gharak's sent me an awesome belated Christmas present, which might foreshadow some of this year's gaming activities...

The Prof heads to investigate the unearthly blackish standing stones...