House Stark– Part 7

We’re now marching firmly towards the end of Fembruary so it’s time to take a look at the latest recruits to my House Stark army for ASOIAF – and this time it’s all about the ladies! In fact the Starks can recruit a whole unit of warrior women, the tough and uncompromising She Bears of House Mormont. I have a unit of these on my “to paint” list, started but currently unfinished, and I did at one time plan to use Fembruary as the encouragement to get them done. Alas, as it turned out I was being a bit ambitious there – small baby to care for and all that – but I’ll get around to them.

Fans of the Game of Thrones TV show will probably be most familiar with Jorah Mormont, the exiled knight who finds himself permanently in Daenerys Targaryen’s “friend-zone” (and count yourself lucky old son – spying on a lady for people who want to assassinate her is no way to win her affections!), Jeor Mormont (the old codger who commands the Nights Watch before Jon Snow) and Lyanna Mormont (the little girl who throws her weight around with the lords of the north in the later series). However those who’ve read the books will know there’s another important Mormont who’s presence in the show is reduced to a blink and you’ll miss it appearance in early episodes; Maege Mormont. With Jeor having packed his bags and gone to the Wall and Jorah gallivanting around Essos with the dragon-queen Maege is left to rule Bear Island. She marches south with Robb Stark’s host, taking four of her daughters with her. Jeor describes his sister as “a hoary old snark, stubborn, short-tempered, and willful” adding “…Truth be told, I can hardly stand to be around the wretched woman”. Oh and the unknown man who fathered her children might just be everyone’s favourite wildling windbag Tormund “Husband of Bears” Giantsbane. In the show she’s killed off early on but in the books she’s still out there somewhere, fighting for the people of the North.

There is a miniature for Maege available in the Stark Heroes 3 box, and to be honest I’m not a fan of it. She’s the one at the top, above Rickard Karstark and Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully.

What exactly is she supposed to be doing? Dance moves? Patting a modestly sized horse? Holding an invisible falcon? Tight-rope walking?

I quite liked the idea of adding Maege to my collection but that model would need a fair bit of converting if I bought it, and ASOIAF models aren’t nearly as easy to work with on that front as GW’s. There was a much better version released as a limited stretch goal as part of the original kickstarter campaign when the game first launched, but rare models like that are hard to get hold of and always eye-wateringly expensive so I didn’t give it much thought – until I spotted one on ebay for a price so reasonable I simply couldn’t turn it down.

Its not all about Mormonts though, as this month I have another lady ready to take her place on the battlefield. Readers might remember that way back in June of last year I painted little Rickon Stark and his loyal direwolf Shaggydog.

What I forgot at the time however was that if you include the little prince of Winterfell in an army you get to take his guardian, the spearwife Osha, for no additional points. Originating amongst the Free Folk from north of the Wall Osha comes south fleeing the Others. Taken captive by the Starks she comes to be a loyal servant and protector of the youngest boys. I’ve been meaning to paint her for ages and this seemed like a perfect moment to get her done as well.

Here she is with her young charge and his fearsome companion.

And there we have it, a pair of kickass ladies ready to celebrate Fembruary by taking the fight to the enemies of House Stark.

The Sorceress

Well check me out – I’ve managed to get something painted! It’s Fembruary once again, time for the annual painting challenge that encourages us to shake up our male dominated miniatures’ collections and give the ladies a chance to shine. I’ve got another project planned for this month but in case I don’t find the time to complete it I decided to start with this sorceress (or noble woman or something…) from the Black Crab range.

Mages, as we all know, are often accompanied by strange creatures that they have bound into their service so whilst I was about it I also painted up this weird beast to be her familiar.

Anyway, that’s me for now. Will there be more ladies before the month is out? Only time will tell!

Fembruary 2022 Round Up

Well here we are at the end of another Fembruary and it’s time to take a quick look back at everything I managed to get painted. Last year I surprised myself by powering through 21 miniatures in the month, whereas this year I managed a more modest 11 of which just 9 came under the Fembruary banner (by virtue of being ladies).

Once again however I managed a fairly eclectic mix of models of all shapes and sizes, from an Orc cheerleader…

… to woodland dwelling witches…

… to vicious-looking ghosts…

…and my first ever Sister of Battle.

Meanwhile the Stormcast Eternals saw the most attention, gathering four new recruits.

My aim at the moment is to bring my backlog under control (isn’t it always!) but lately my focus has shifted away from simply flailing haphazardly at the mountain of sprues under my desk and instead I’ve tried to tighten my focus, concentrating on those projects I’m most keen to have completed rather than wandering wherever my fancy takes me. I suspect that from the point of view of my readers of course, this will be entirely academic and my output will continue to look much the same as ever – a random-appearing bombardment of models from all angles with no apparent theme at all but trust me, as the Lizardmen would assure you, there is a Great Plan behind it all! This is something I’ve been chewing over a lot since the start of 2022 and essentially what it boils down to is this; there are many things which may curtail a lot of my painting in the future (lots of them good!) and so I ought to focus on finishing those things I’d like to complete now whilst I have the time. I’m not planning on going anywhere, I don’t intend to quit the hobby (heaven forbid!) or anything like that but I am very conscious of the fact that I have a lot of part-painted projects, and a lot of gangs and warbands that I really want to have painted but which have been left unattended for years. I often find myself thinking about projects and realising that I’m still as excited about them as I was on the day I bought them, but that a lot of time has gone by and they’re still untouched. I don’t want to look back in a decade, or even just a year, and find that most of them are no further forward than they are now. Looking to the future I suspect that the best time for getting things painted is now and for a lot of reasons the longer I leave something the less likely it is to ever get painted. So for the next little while prioritising and getting things done is the aim of the game.

This also applies to cutting out some of the faffing I’m prone to. Take colour schemes for instance and look at the Sister of Battle above or this band of Chaos Warriors. 

In the past I would have agonised over finding a combination of colours that was both original and looked good, and unsurprisingly these often proved incompatible. There are far too many models in my “pile of shame” which stalled between these two pillars and never got started again. With these examples however the colour scheme used by the developers for the studio models is great and I’m pleased with the results so I’m happy to copy them, call that a win and move on, putting the time into painting something else rather than stressing over perfection. It’s a lesson I’ve had to learn several times over the years and sometimes I still need to remind myself; the perfect really is the enemy of the good.

Anyway, that’s enough waffle from me! Here’s a group shot of everything I managed to do in Fembruary instead (click on it to see a nice big version instead of giving yourself eyestrain). 

….And with that Fembruary is over for another year. The scattershot assault on my backlog however will be continuing apace!

Fembruary 2021 Round-Up

Whew – I don’t think I’ve painted so many different things in such a short space of time in my life! There have been times when I’ve painted a lot more models (69 miniatures in October 2018 being the highest monthly output since I started keeping a record although that was mostly a case of batch-painting Night Goblins so perhaps not quite as impressive as it first appears). This month I “only” managed 21 models, but they covered as wide a range of subjects as I could find – united by a single common theme, all of them were women. Yes we’re talking once again about the Fembruary challenge run by Alex of LeadBalloony.

For those unfamiliar with the challenge Fembruary is “a time of year for us to collectively challenge the male domination of our collections, and commit to painting some female miniatures”. The description adds “it’s a simple affair, just paint & post one or more female miniatures from your piles-of-shame, in the name of fair representation within the hobby” and notes “given that this is intended as an encouragement to think about inclusion in the hobby then it makes sense if your entries are kick-ass ladies”.

This year I was feeling both particularly enthusiastic about clearing my backlog and at the same time thinking a lot about the situation facing women both in my own country and abroad. Currently the government here is looking to bring in legislation which could severely limit our ability to even discuss issues affecting women, whilst taking away the sex-segregated services they need. It goes without saying that a lot of women, both in my circle of family and friends and the wider public, are frankly terrified. I don’t really want to get into the specifics of the debate, partly because this is a blog about miniatures and not really the right forum for the discussion and partly because there are activists out there who think that the appropriate response to someone saying “women are people too” is to make death threats and I don’t need that shit. 

I try to walk a fine line with this blog. On the one hand I try to make my posts thought provoking when I can, and to dig a little deeper than simply saying “here’s a thing wot I painted”. On the other hand I’m very conscious of the fact that the world can be difficult, distressing and depressing at times and our hobbies are intended to be a release from all that. Then there’s the fact that,  although the blogosphere is considerably more civilised than, for example, Facepuke or Twitter, many people fear any kind of online social or political discussion in case it erupts into an orgy of spittle-flecked outrage. At the end of the day people come here to look at pictures of miniatures, and although it’s my party and I’ll say what I want to, equally I don’t want to be a bore or start a fight.

It’s also a long and complex matter to try to dissect but we find ourselves in the odd position where, when I participate in Fembruary 2022, I may have to describe the kind of miniatures I’m painting without using the word “woman”, in case by doing so I cause someone offence – which under new laws could see me sent to prison. I know that sounds ludicrous to most readers but misogynist activists are already jeering themselves hoarse and claiming that they’ll exploit the new legislation to silence anyone who disagrees with them.

It should go without saying that, no matter what cause someone claims to be standing for, if a women says she feels unsafe and someone responds by threatening her with sexual assault and murder then the aggressor should not be hailed as brave. Such behaviour will always be abhorrent, regardless of how they try to dress it up. Regardless of what happens with this particular instance of state-sponsored misogyny watching events unfold has really emphasised to me the viciousness with which women in particular are attacked for speaking up.  

Ours is a hobby which traditionally has been primarily male. The cliché of the out-of-shape, unwashed, nerdy (and of course  single!) male gamer is a persistent one – despite the fact that my readers are to a man handsome, hygienic and erudite sexual stallions. We have worked hard to invite women into our hobby and the increased number of women – both in terms of miniatures on our tabletops and human beings painting and playing with those miniatures – is something well worth celebrating. Of course there are areas in which things could and should improve, and of course there will always be those for whom nothing is ever good enough. We just need to keep trying, keep discussing, and keep working towards something that works fairly well for everyone in the room who isn’t a total arsehole – and that’s basically the best that any society can hope for.

Anyway, in an effort to stop myself grinding my teeth right out of my head, I’ve found myself leaning heavily on my “go to” for calming my nerves and maintaining my mental health; painting miniatures. As a result what started out as simply an exercise in gathering together all the unfinished female models on my desk and trying to get a few completed turned into something of a marathon charge into the “pile of shame”. Let’s take a look at everything I managed to complete (don’t knacker your eyes peering at it, click on it for a decent sized picture!).

Not bad eh! I’m sure there will be plenty of hobbyists out there who could paint a lot more in a month, and to a much higher standard to boot, but this isn’t a race and I’m rather proud of my output. Along the way I added models to various ongoing projects and started a few new ones. We have three daughters of House Escher…

…three Blood Bowl playing elves…

… two explorers delving into the Blackstone Fortress…

…the Imperial Guard commissar Severina Raine from the Black Library novel Honourbound…

…a Stormcast Eternal…

…two dryads…

…two Chaos Sorceresses…

…a Genestealer Cult Magus…

…an agent of Tzeentch…

… an old goblin witch…

…one of the grand ladies of the Adeptus Mechanicus…

…and a warband made up of the Daughters of Khaine.

Things might be a bit quiet here for the next little while, and certainly quieter than they’ve been recently. This is the time of year when my work goes into overdrive and this year is scheduled to be particularly hectic.  I’ll still be painting miniatures when time allows though and I’ll try not to vanish from the world of blogging altogether, especially as I have a lot of projects up my sleeve that I’d like to be tackling soon.

Finally I’d like to give a shout out to Alex of LeadBalloony who organises this challenge every year. If you’re not already familiar with his work I highly recommend you go and check it out right away, and of course keep an eye out for the Fembruary round up, which he should be posting in the next few days, for a look at all the other talented people who’ve taken part.

Goblin Witch

You don’t often see female greenskins so when I found this goblin witch from Knightmare Miniatures lurking in the unpainted pile I knew I had to include in my Fembruary painting marathon.

The range of female miniatures available to me for this challenge has impressed me a great deal over the last few weeks. When I first participated in Fembruary back in 2018 I really didn’t have very many and it’s pleasing to see how much that’s changed in recent years. Partly of course that’s my doing – by a natural process of accumulation I now own more models than I did three years ago so I had more to pick from. However I’m also seeing an increase in the number of female miniatures on the market, and in an increasing diversity of roles. Where once I would have struggled to find much beyond sorceresses and the chainmail-bikini brigade now there are even goblin women. Long may it continue!

God Of Murder – Part 4

We’re into the last week of Fembruary now so it’s time to put the finishing touches on my Daughters of Khaine Warcry warband. Just like the two Witch Elves I showed earlier in the month these two come from the Morgwaeth’s Blade-coven set. Of course this also means that I only need to paint up Morgwaeth herself to complete another Warhammer Underworld’s warband so at some point I’ll do that too. For now though let’s concentrate on the final Warcry recruits.

First of all here’s a savage Sister of Slaughter, the berserker she-elves so savage that even the Witch Elves must look at them from time to time and think “Steady on”.

Alongside her we have a second snake-bodied Melusai, this time in the form of a Blood Stalker. I must confess that I was struggling a bit with this one but, very fittingly for Fembruary, my fiancée gave me some very helpful pointers and stopped me from making a hash of things. The benefits of having a professional artist in the house!

Finally here’s a shot of the whole warband gathered together.

Although the warband is finished for now I’ve got various other Daughters of Khaine models I’d like to add so at some point I’ll come back to this project and add a few more recruits. We’re also almost at the end of Fembruary and for me work and other “real life” commitments are starting to get particularly busy. That said there are a few more models I’d like to complete that are within stretching distance of getting finished so we’ll see what, if anything, I can manage over the next few days.

The Ladykillers – Part 16

It wouldn’t be Fembruary without some Eschers, especially as my Necromunda gangs have been a little neglected of late. Since they were released last summer I’ve not got around to painting any of the new Escher models and this month was the perfect excuse to give one of them a try. 

I did toy with the idea of painting a Death Maiden for my gang but I’ve not managed to get around to her yet. Maybe I’ll find a moment before the end of the month. I did however tackle one of the Wyld Runners, the rebellious youth of the house who grow up roaming far into the underhive and outland wastes. I wanted to strike a balance between the bright outlandish colours of the Eschers and a darker scheme suitable for a ranger, hunting alone in the darkness of the ruined cities. Honestly I’m not entirely sure I got the balance quite right but I certainly gave myself some food for thought for when I get around to painting her sisters.

With so many different models from all kinds of projects crossing my painting desk at the moment you might be forgiven for thinking that I’ve forgotten all about the acolytes of Tzeentch that I was working on back in January (and indeed I’ve put that project almost entirely on the backburner until Fembruary is over). However almost entirely is not the same as entirely so tomorrow we’ll take a look at a lady who’s dedicated herself to the god of change…

The Cult of the Abyssal Gaze – Part 9

It’s been far too long since I’ve added anything to my Genestealer Cults collection. Time was I envisioned it growing rapidly from a Necromunda gang into a fully fledged Warhammer 40k army. Nowadays though I envision it growing slowly, perhaps even glacially, from a Necromunda gang into a Warhammer 40k army. At the moment I have a bunch of part-painted xeno’s hybrids that I’d like to get finished but only one of them is a lady (as far as I can tell!) and so only one of them counts for Fembruary. The rest will have to wait until another month. I’m sure they can handle it – they’ve been waiting for attention for long enough as it is.

For now I’ve just painted up this Magus, although I must admit that working on her has reinvigorated my love of the Cult, and helped me work out how to paint their orange robes without needing three weeks and about 100 carefully applied layers to do it. I’ll see what I feel like doing after Fembruary (apart from wrapping up the Tzeentchian Warcry warbands that I cruelly abandoned at the end of January) but I’m feeling the temptation to add some more recruits to the misguided servants of the Tyranids right now.

A Magus is a powerful psyker and the spiritual leader of the cult, interpreting the will of their terrible alien overlord for the hybrid masses. With her done I now have two of them, ready to take command of my nascent insurrection (if you’re curious to get a better look at the other one, who I painted back in 2018 you can find him here).

Like the Adeptus Mechanicus the Genestealer Cults are one of those factions that I love the look of and always really enjoy painting, but when I’m not working on one I feel, quite irrationally, that painting them is going to be a chore and so I end up avoiding it. Does anyone else suffer from this problem or am I alone in my madness?

God Of Murder – Part 3

Time for another update to the ranks of the Daughters of Khaine. This time I wanted to give the warband some air superiority in the form of two airborne predators – the Khinerai. These daemonically tainted, winged elves are the spiritual successors of the old Dark Elf Harpies of the WHFB era, which for my money were amongst the very worst models Games Workshop ever produced. Shall we take a moment to look back at the ugly models of yesteryear?

Ghastly weren’t they? Between the lumpen sculpts and the hairy chests there wasn’t much to love about these and I spent a sizeable chunk of my youth hoping that someday GW would get around to replacing them. Thankfully that day came at last with the arrival of the Daughters of Khaine army book and the accompanying Khinerai Harpies. These come in two varieties, the Heartrenders and the Lifetakers, so naturally I painted one of each.

The Heartrender swoops over the battlefield impaling her prey on cruel javelins…

…whilst the Lifetaker plunges out of the sky to hack her victims apart in close combat.

I can’t honestly pretend that I enjoyed painting these that much. The way they attach to the base via the tail alone means they tend to spring around, a little shiver passing through the model every time the brush touches it. Taking a firm grip of the miniature itself rather than just holding it by the base is vital but tends to lead to me planting my great big thumbs in the middle of something I’d just painted, or smearing and smudging paint everywhere. My bad habit of using the side of my hand as a pallet worked against me here as well. They’re also packed with details, which usually I’d enjoy but in this case only made things trickier, especially when working in the awkward spaces created by the splayed wings and arms. My impression is of a set of miniatures designed by someone so excited by the possibilities created by working in lightweight modern plastic that they forgot about what it would actually be like to paint them. In the end I’m happy enough with the results but mostly just pleased to call the damn things done.

We’re now halfway through Fembruary and I’m still having a lot of fun powering through my backlog of unfinished female miniatures. To be honest I’ve no idea how much longer I can keep up painting at this rate but I’ve got a lot more models that deserve to be painted so I’ll see what else I can manage over the coming fortnight.

Ride The Lightning – Part 1

Yeah, to be honest I didn’t think I’d ever paint a Stormcast Eternal either but like Space Marines they seem to sprout organically in any collection of Games Workshop miniatures whether you want them to or not. I should add I don’t have anything against them, and there’s one or two like this lady that I actually quite like. She’s been sitting on the desk at least a year now after I started experimenting with colour schemes and then ran out of enthusiasm before I really got anywhere. Mind you, whoever it was at Games Workshop that decided she should be cast in gold plastic – surely the trickiest colour to get a decent basecoat over – deserves at least some of the blame there. Of course Fembruary once again proved to be the perfect moment to get her finished.

I’ve got a few other Stormcasts kicking around so now I’ve settled on a colour scheme sooner or later I’ll paint them up as well.