Keep Calm And Blog On: A Painting Update For Chaos Dwarfs & Chaos Space Marines

Well it's all gone a wee bit weird, hasn't it?

My home country of the United Kingdom has had a rather big and rather surprising referendum result and as a politics nerd I've been following it, to the detriment of this blog which has had a few part-written articles on the to do list for a while.  Instead I woke up Friday 3am for the electoral count and fallout, continuing to hit Refresh on BBC news on an hourly basis ever since.

I could write paragraph upon paragraph about this turn of events, but it's not even vaguely what this blog is about.  This is a place about daemons, dwarfs, dragons, superheroes, holodecks, psychics and dice.  Real world issues stay off and do not interrupt.

Also, I think it would do me good to not think about it for the next wee bit! 

At least the Americans are seeing the bright side.

So let's catch up on what I've been up on the painting front instead and not even use the words Brexit, Farage, Eurozone, Constitution, Crisis, Denmark, Romanians, Neo-Fascist or Civil War.

Wait, that's two words.

Ach, you know what I mean.

A lot of drybrushing, the reverse of the usual "progressively lighter shades"

So you may remember I painted some Chaos Dwarf golems a wee bit ago.  You know, big lava looking monsters?  Neon orange with darker and darker shades over them?

"I could tell her they were gifts.  Yes, gifts from a friend in Edinburgh she's never met."

 You may also remember I got some more golems when I was in Edinburgh in April, as part of the alleged "weekend away for my anniversary with Sister Superior".  You know, when I got load of geeky things?  I told Sister Superior it was mostly a bargain and she didn't question it too hard?

Yeah, so if I'm going to get yet more unpainted bits of plastic I really need to paint them to justify the spend.  And paint them I did, with three more golems ready to roll giving me a unit of six silicate hard-men!

Silk Anniversary - What I Did In Edinburgh

Sister Superior has a lot in common with Lois Lane, but I'm way more of a Plastic Man than Superman.

April marked the 12th anniversary for Sister Superior and I being an item.  We didn’t do anything really big on the day – instead, we waited until the start of May then went to Edinburgh for the weekend for a wee adventure.  Accommodation was booked, entertainment arrangements were made and disgustingly coupley moments were had.

A new story from the day we first went out - April 18th 2004.

The missus was working last Saturday and so couldn’t come to Edinburgh until she’d finished work – I, on the other hand, was free all day.  I went in a few hours ahead of Sister Superior, then, as an advance scout party whose primary objective was to drop off the suitcase and pick up some little odds and ends in the shops.

Of course, releasing me into a city unsupervised inevitably leads to a secondary objective: Visit the nerd shops and hunt interesting things.  With hours to kill and no-one to question why I was walking so far just for a toy soldier shop, I set on my way.

Naturally, I wouldn’t spend all my money at the start of a romantic weekend when I was on my own and visiting geek shops, right?

"I can just tell her it was... um... a bargain?"

Right?

Hobgoblins And Golems And Paint, Oh My!

Thirty greenskins ready to be sent to their doom.

So, the Hobgoblin archers are all done.  Twenty seven repurposed Night Goblin Archers and a real metal Hobgoblin Command Team are in place and ready to do.... well, whatever their Chaos Dwarf masters tell them to do.

If they know what's good for them.

Close-up of metal Hobgoblin Command Squad

While still on a Fantasy sort of kick, I decided to paint up some more figures for the Chaos Dwarves.  This time round it was three Lesser Obsidian Golems from Mantic, which as you may recall my chum Priestly Paul donated to me.

Remember them?

Rather than paint them in flat earthy tones I was quite taken with the idea of giving them a lava effect.  At the start of the year I even posted a link to a gentleman who had posted lovely looking Lava Bloodthirsters which I wanted to try and mimic.  My hope was that they'd get a look akin to the Pyroville from Doctor Who.

Yeah, like that.

So how do I go about this?  Well, read on my friends and you'll see!

Beware The Savage Yaw Of 1984: A Bearded Quail Birthday

Being born in 1984 does rather give your birthday a sinister edge.

Wednesday 13th January marked the anniversary of my birthday.  I have now leveled up and become a 32 year old Quail: I’ve gained a couple of ranks in some skills, though I think I’m doing poorly when it comes to ageing rolls to Endurance.

This being the sort of blog this is, you aren’t going to care too much about what I had for a birthday dinner or if I plan any sort of friend gathering.  You probably don't even care about any deep personal trauma I'm having about turning 32 and OH MY GOD I'M STILL A WASTE OF SPACE WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE.

"I think I can just about see my mid-life crisis from here"

What you are going to care about is whether I’ve received any gifts which fall into the nerdy purview of this blog.  You know, stuff to do with wargaming or roleplaying or what have you.

The answer to that question, unsurprisingly, is “Yes”.