Update- I'm Alive

Well almost 2 months have passed, and you be relieved to know I wasn't in a coma or anything. August is the busiest time in the Auto industry, and the cars for clunkers pushed it to a surprising level (hoping it lasts). Anyhow, from Slick's nudges I have been reminded of the October Tourney in Lafayette and that I am way behind. So as for Chaos, forget 'em at least for now. I'm now hard at work trying to get something freshly painted for the tourney, as well as revamping my 'too brown' Black Coach that I might end up playing yet again even though it rarely pays off.

Black Coach: Ok, you complainers lets have it. What do you want to see from this thing. Now I refuse to paint it black so forget that, but I am considering green stuffing the gaps and adding glowing green or red glyphs. Let me know what you think or throw out any other suggestions. (I'll have you know the gaps in the model is what pushed me into the revamp not the critisism, so there)

Forgive the photo's they are from my old camera. Man I cringe at these gaps, consider them filled.

Week 2 - Chaos Army Project

I know, I know - How can this be 'Week 2' when week one was months ago. Well again just like the zombie parade, stuff came up again and I was away from the mini's. Ive actually spent maybe 2 weeks on this stuff, but week one was all trimming and base spraying. And nobody want to just see that right. Well without any further excuses, behold I actually touched 40K. Specifically the rhino kit I am converting.

Here we see the magnet I have placed to allow the turret to be removed as well as rotate.

Turret in place, it's home-made by the way.
Some actual painting being done.
As you can see the surface isn't flat. I tried to smooth out the sides after filling gaps with green but alas I ended up with this and I'm not sure how I should clean it up.
Turret Green stuff details.

023 - Blonde Zombie

Yup Blondie here is rare in the regard that he is the only zomb sporting golden locks. Not much of it however, just a tuft in the front and one side burn. Got some weird old gooey reaper ink for wet blood on his "weapon". Almost looks orange but at the time it's all I had and I'm OK with it since I'm all about unuiqueness in my zombs. And certian conditions could cause the blood to look like that, so it's not that foriegn. Oh almost forgot this blonde zombie is another rare one with excellent dental care in life, just look at those pearly white teeth. He must have "been someone".

Old School Ghouls

Ah remanents a the last codex, ghoul units that could be as small as five and skirmished. I mostly used them to defend ally cannons or try to exploit something on the flank. Distractions mostly and at 8pts a piece I was fine that they never really killed anything, ever. The models themselves are way old, two in fact are old metal zombies that sometimes see the light of day if I somehow run out of summoning stock. The new ghoul models look way better but I'm in no hurry to add them to my list at 22$ for 10. Granted they are cheaper than before but I'm also one of the cheapest guys to ever pick up the game. Though I have no doubt that somewhere along the line I will eventually give the ghouls an actual chance in my army, especially now that zombies are so worthless. Although I guess these specific models will live on as zombies now, "Waste Not" as I always say.

Painting: As for the skin, red and purple randomly painted for a base. Then a few layers of grey and white dry bush passes. Dressed in army colors of red and brown. I give them a decent, better than I imagined as I never have really had plans for them.

Origins: Most people are not aware that 80% of my army was horribly painted and bad condition upon my receiving it as a present from my older brother. These guys weren't painted, but as you can see I've got some old stuff. Like 9 mummies I have no idea how im gonna use.

Apparently these guys are a pack of ogre killers since there sporting bones from a rather large frame. Although that is pretty hard to believe.
These bottom two pics are of the back but actually came out the best, I've got a new camera now but my army is resting soundly 4.5 hours away in Alpena at the time of this post.

022 - Thin Striped Zombie

I don't know I just like this guy. He really has no defining traits like some of my other zombs but that dirty green flesh, greasy hair and sleeveless striped shirt just work for me. Its kind of like he's the weasely thug from some comic book, too bad he doesn't have a pipe. How do thugs always have pipes anyhow, I never see them lying around. Anyhow back to the zombie, I think the thin stripes help show that his torso is twisted and hunched over. Sort of helps you imagine him staggering forward, maybe it's just me.

021 - Steal Toe Zombie

Steal Toe Zombie is kind of interesting because his metal boots (greaves) are so out of place. At first I didn't realize there were wraps above the show and interpreted the model as wearing metal boots. Of course couldn't have 20% of my zombies clanking around so I adjusted and this is the only Zombs sporting metal boots. I of course didn't redo his feet because I liked the fact that he sticks out. Maybe in life he had a horrble time stubbing his toes so he took precaution, who knows.


-Clank- -scrape- -Clank- -Clank- -scrape- (how I'd imagine his walk would sound)

020 - Strong Man Zombie

Another zombie I have to throw props out to 'Slick" for. He provided the arms, I think they are some kind of chaos bit. Anyhow this zombie has some pythons, hence the name. I gave his skin a real slimy look with purple and green tones, not uniform at all on purpose. and I think his rusty mace turned out OK too. By no means one of the best zombs in the crowd, but with those 'guns' the ladies are taking a second look before running away in terror.
"You ladies seen my beach ball, it looks like this -flex-

019 - Red Beard Zombie

Again, not that creative of a name but hes the only Zombie with a red beard. Bit of a burnt corpse look, and he's sporting the armies main color on his staff. The unit may be disheveled and unorganized but these veteran zombie try to bring there little touches of unity to the group.

"oi"

World War Hulk

I remembered liking the few 'Hulk' comics I got my hands on as a kid, so I was pretty excited when this series began. Plus, I was really wanted Reed Richard and Tony Stark to get what was coming to them after the civil war. Too bad Dr. Strange was involved because he's pretty cool. Any how I liked the series, the first half is all the Hulk Stranded on an alien world. The second half is all out destruction in New York as the Hulk seeks revenge, pretty cool. This pretty much reminds everyone that if the Hulk puts his mind to something, very few have any chance of stopping him. Of course this second half is littered with crossover issues to get you interested in new titles such as 'The Heroes for Hire' or 'The New Avengers'. The story arc for the 'Heroes for Hire' isn't too bad, but the avengers is average at best. I did like the 'Renegades' though, mostly due to Amadeus Cho and Hercules. Anyhow, I know this is all over the place, but if any of that interests you at all get into this series. It doesn't disappoint.

018 - Denim? Zombie

This guys isn't that unique other than he has a different color scheme. But it's standard fare as far as zombies go. I guess you could kind of say his pants appear to have a texture of jeans. So I guess I'm going with denim zombie, and that's pretty amazing since jeans are not that old.

017 - Snake Charmer Zombie

017 - Again the bases on these guys are finished now, I mention this because you are quickly drawn to this guys feet. I gave him a very bloody weapon just to get the actual zombie some focus, works OK I think. So his buddy is a nice venomous snake and since he's dead he's go not worries about getting bit himself.
As we all know in combat zombies are trash, so the snake is probably the more dangerous in this partnership. I like to think they have a symbiotic relationship, snake bites and the zombie shares the corpse, harvesting the eyeballs for the snake. Yes zombies are idiots, but even dull animals will work together if they see benifit in it.

Snake: "sssss"
Zombie: "uhhhh"
Snake "ssssssss"
Zombie "uhhhhh"

016 - Greasy Zombie

I don't want to think about what this guy was putting in his hair to get that wet hair gel look. Best case scenario, hes go greasy hair. Also one of the few bloody zombs, I like ot think this guy was trying to stuff his guts back in. His hace here is pretty dry, as with most of the model, I think this was a earlier practive ind drybrushing. It gives his face a more dustyier/tired look as opposed to the sunken eye sockets.

"No no no, I can hold it back in, I'll be OK."

The Civil War

Just finished this series of comics a bit ago, and overall I though it was OK. It tries to get you interested in some of the new comic hero's out there by involving them with ones you actually care about. It worked a bit I guess as I's give the "New Avengers" a chance now and maybe the "Runaway's". Overall the jumping around story was decent at best. It did make me like Captain America even more and dislike Iron Man and Reed Richards at a higher level. And seeing old hero's many of us have forgotten was kinda cool too (the old and new Hawkeye's meeting was cool). I grew up devoted to Marvel but now that I'm exploring DC this stuff just seems weak after reading the old "Dark Knight" and "Watchmen" stuff. They core argument that it makes is interesting but dragging it over 100 comics wears thin.

I'll probably stick with Marvel and read World War Hulk then go back to DC. Hoping to see Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man get what's coming to them, so far it's a good series and it has you routing for the Hulk all the way.

Rugged Vampire

Here is another old drawing and the inverted color since I was going to make a wallpaper out of it, even though I never finished the drawing (I do that a lot). It's a V. Count and if you own any of the old Blood Dragon you will notice the similarities in the armour. Of course he is rugged as well.

May Lafayette Tourney

Hit the Link to check out the action.

Tournament Pics

About 10 people showed and it turned out to be a ton of fun. OK, so here is the battle report.

Round 1
Vampire Counts vs Vampire Counts (Minor Victory)

This match up was very even and there was surprisingly a lot of killing, not the stalemate of non retreating and regenerating units that I predicted. We had very similar lists, and both being somewhat experienced we picked our battles. My opponent made a error with his Varg, which was probably the only thing that avoided a draw here. Although I wasted 200pts with my weak couch that always gets destroyed.

Round 2
Vampire Counts vs. Orks and Goblins (Minor Victory)

I usually do well here but I probably should have been more aggressive. His two mounted heroes, kept two of my tougher vamps in a stare down match most of the game. This game would have absolutely been a minor loss or draw at best if the nasty unit mentioned above had not failed it's terror test on the last turn. Also my hosts got killed by Goblins, eh I know. I did use 'Curse of Years' the first time successfully in this battle, which gave me the confidence to take it into action in Round 3. This game was just fun, I end up playing this guy every time and it's always a good time. Actually had me feeling guilty about the last second terror win.

Round 3
Vampire Counts vs. Daemons (Major Victory)

This one surprises me as well. My opponent dominated the flanks and did away with my black knights and their mounted Vamp companion. Luckily I have a few key march blocks and pressed forward every turn up the gut. I barely got my chars away from a nasty mounted character killer in time to save my victory points. The real winner this game was the "Curse of Years" play on a large Korne unit that took every wound. Overall a real fun round with a lot of scares and an introduction to a army I had never seen in action. Also his stuff was painted really well.

Result
2nd Place

015 - Melted Face Zombie

Ahh, good old melted face. This was a very early zombie of mine and many have had mixed feelings about him. I just plain like that bloody skull. I guess he may not have had his face melted, it could have been ripped off too. The skull was done with some really gummy red ink on its last days that I got from Slick. Basically the only thing I could use it before tossing it myselft.
"This guy reminds me of the guy who's face melts in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'"

013-014 The Dark Knight and The Boy Wonder

That's right, it's Batman and Robin. A bit of green stuff on to make bats, the ears and the cord on his cape. Robin is a basic zomb model with a familiar color scheme (he may have lost some of his tumbling skills as he has scraped his knee pretty bad). I do like how Batman Zombie's skin color is actually part of the "costume". I'm all out of zombs but if a few find there way to me in the future I may try sticking with the DC theme and making a Superman or Green Lantern. If you've been keeping up, Green Arrow was Zombie #007. Oh better idea, Joker Zombie. Why didn't I think of that before I ran out of materials?


"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

012 - Dehydration Zombie

This zombie just looks dry, even though some blood is still dripping on the rocks under him. He gets this look from being almost all dry brushed with light colors. I know this description is a bit weak but next week has not one great zombie, but two. So I'm hoping that makes up for this one, again not that this guy is bad (I do like how his pants turned out, and the big bloody rock under his guts) he just doesn't have many defining features..

"If it's brown drink it down, if it's black send it back."

011 - Reaping Zombie

The scythe is a normal weapon for the zombs so I could have them in abundance, but I only have one equipped. I just figure is kind of a unique weapon to see so I wouldn't believe a few in a unit. I know its a farming tool and multiple workers would be in the field with them, but I figure most zombs get raised from the ground and them pick something up in battle. Besides if zombs were coming at me in the field, id probably see them coming and run home and get an axe or something. It also doesn't stack all that well in the unit either. Nice bit for a single zomb though.

OK, enough about he scythe, this zombs skin is unique too. I painted it very early in my painting career when I didn't own anything other than red, brown and white colors and had none to borrow at the moment. But thanks to Slick's donation I got a gummy condition green paint from reaper that has this zomb with a look of his own (it was a huge pain which is why it'll never get used again). Also this is one of the few zombs with a fleshed in eye socket too, telling you he lost it before he died.
"Bring in that harvest, buddy"

Week 1 - Chaos Army Project

Week 1 - Inventory. Baiscally just setting a baseline here. If I do any Warhammer this week it will be work on my Zombie Dragon base not 40k. This up's my weekly content, still no army pics though (weak on my part). I get 1-2 hours of painting a day if I feel inclined to do so, so this project will take a bit. THe goal of this project is a complete 2000pts army, with enough options to swap a unit every now and then.

Yup, that's a new box of Chaos that I won at a tourney over a year ago and they are still in the sprue. Really the incentive to start this project, I'll be converting or modding most of whats in here as regular marines are of no use to me.
My poor defiler occupying a box with only gnoblars to keep it company. It's in pieces since my last move but repairs will be easy.
Have some partial terrain pieces to finish and a Daemon Prince not even started. The few odd marines, 3 bikes and Rhino are all finished. Tank has working lights, just wait until you see the next one.
Here are my once great and powerful bloodletters, completely destroyed in the last codex (very lame). The Thousand Sons are rady to rumble though, champ is 2 pics down.
One beserker and a bunch of bits. Got soem reg. marine jump packs I bought from 'Slick' on the right, way cheaper than the metal models.
Khorne Beserkers, Asp Champ (1000 Sons) and a Choas Lord and all ready to go. More bits and some wolf heads for some reason.
Chaos Space MArines, a few are hidden as the drawer doesnt pull out all the way. The two painted arms go to the defliler. All the extra bits will play into a shamble together a dreadnaut on the cheap project.

010 - Dental Care Zombie

Here is a nice juicy zomb for the collection. Purple pants and green skin, a bit 'hulkish' in color theme. I guess in the Warhammer world the color scheme is a bit more aristocratic though. You know it was hard to get a name, I almost settled with the arisocratic thing even though it is very weak. Basically I'm really looking forward to getting back to some unique zombs. I do rememeber painting this guy and im pretty sure this is the first one I gave yellow teeth to, only delayed because I'm cheap and didn't want to buy antoher color. So if I didn't have chaos marines that needed yellow too, my zombs might all be sporting pearly whites. They always had the orange eyes since my skels used that odd color.