Holiday team painting project

I took a portable painting station with me on holiday to North Wales last week. (This is a grandiose way of saying I filled a box full of paints and unpainted Blood Bowl miniatures.)

The great thing about being on holiday is not having a gazillion things that I ought to be doing instead of painting my figures. And as we have to carefully pace ourselves to marshall Cathy's energy reserves, that means some evenings in - which are perfect for painting!

I prepped for the week away by building the second half of my Elven Union team of elves. This has been a bit of a North Wales project, generally. I bought the team set on holiday in Bangor a couple of years ago, built half the team on holiday in Dinas Dinlle last summer (I think) and then completed assembling the team a few weeks back. 

I hadn't decided on a paint scheme for them before the holiday, but I had a pretty turquoise and a shiny silver, so I thought those would make a good elf-appropriate combo. I was quite pleased with the result.

They aren't quite finished because I left their decorative kneepads unpainted. I planned to do them a different colour, but I'm probably going to paint them silver to match their shinguard greaves. There are some other finishing touches I need to do as well.

Even though they aren't finished, mostly painted is better than grey plastic and I was pleased with the progress. I also got some paint on my Norse star player, Thorsson Stoutmead, my yhetee, and my werewolf star player as well. All in all, a very productive week.

Purchasing another part 1 of a partwork

That time of year again, when a Games Workshop partwork starts. I've bought a few of these over the years as they're a fun way to get some really cheap models and sometimes other things like paint. I've assembled a small Space Marine squad off previous partworks.

This year it's olde worlde Warhammer getting the partwork treatment, with some pieces from the 'Spearhead' sets attached every week. 

I don't know much about "Spearhead" as a game concept. They are basically small complete armies that you can use for combat games. 

I bought this because the figures on the front included two skaven figures. I know the skaven are meant to be plague-ridden giant rats, but I have a soft spot for them.

The figures are push-fit meaning no glue is necessary, although I can't imagine getting the pieces off the sprue without a set of clippers. Despite being push-fit, the figures were very detailed. 

The two skaven figures are a 'Grey seer', which is a skaven priest-shaman, and a 'warlock engineer' who comes with a telescope and is leaning on a rudimentary musket.

The grey seer is standing on a ruined plague bell, with rats emerging from it. Ordinary rats often join in with skaven attacks.

The engineer with the wonky eye-glass is probably my favourite figure. It must act more like a periscope than a telescope.

The other main figure is a 'Lord Veritant' who comes with a small, vicious pet called a 'gryphcrow'. It's a small gryphon. 

I found the Lord Veritant harder to put together than the skaven figures. The flaming brazier piece was painful, as the two halves had sharp points on them. Those are unhelpful in a push-fit model.

The Lord Veritant is one of the 'Stormcast Eternals' who descend from heaven to rid the world of evil creatures like the skaven. I like the gryph-crow, but am less keen on the vanquishing angels. Team skaven for me.

Having both figures and some dice in the first pack means that the purchaser can start playing micro combat games straight away. (If they have time or inclination. Truthfully, I have neither.)

I tend to only get the first part of a partwork like this because it tends to be the most bargainous issue. Although, according to the back of the packet, you can get three rat ogres attached to part 2, which is more expensive than part 1, but cheaper than buying the figures normally. I could add a rat ogre to my skaven Blood Bowl team, so I could maybe give one a makeover and fashion him some Blood Bowl armour.