Yuletide reckonings!

Merry Winter festivities to all and sundry! Managed to get a few bits completed today and on Christmas eve (although not Christmas day because of joyous celebrating). I managed to finish off my Scree Slope and add snow to it and the bases of my Skeleton Warriors, completing all of my tasks this time around (will post my scenario around new year for perusal). Stormsoul completed her building after changing tack at the last minute because we both felt that the original one wasn't working as well as we'd imagined (although I shall later complete it for the sake of it), instead completing a Brettonian watchtower (since they're on the outskirts of Athel Loren) and got a little further with painting her Wardancers.

With the watchtower, the paintscheme was quite simple: Bleached Bone with Devlan Mud wash on the lighter parts, Chaos Black with a drybrush of Shadow Grey on the darkest parts, Codex Grey with a drybrush of Fortress Grey on the mid-tone parts, Terracotta roofing tiles, Scorched Brown for the door and Boltgun Metal on the door-handle/chain.

Anywho, we're packing tonight to head down to Essex tomorrow (early in the morning) to see my family for Christmas and hopefully meet up with Sousunou (and Skyjacker if he's about). I'm packing my Skeleton Warriors and Stormsoul's Wardancers, with the paints she needs to finish them, in the hopes of using my scenario as a four-way battle as a little Christmas surprise and so that Stormsoul has a chance to finish painting her Wardancers before new year!

See y'all on the other side!

Nearing completion on two fronts!

 Well, I decided to have my unit of Skeletons be 8 wide (meaning 4 ranks deep) and, as a result, I had to paint another Skeleton. I chose the unit champion because it's a little more interesting than another ordinary warrior - but it's also because I got to test out the skin painting and the beard painting techniques. Ultimately, I'm really quite pleased with the results!

Also, today, I managed to get another few stages closer to completing my Scree Slope! I finished adding the sand to the borders last night and proceeded to paint them Space Wolves Grey, then washed them with Badab Black. Still trying to figure out what to do at the bottom edge to smooth it out - any suggestions? I also plan to add Static Grass at the sand/grass join to make a better transition and add some splodges of snow to the whole piece to help make it fit into my army's bases a little better. I also want to add some snow to my riverbanks to help tie those in as well (as I'm too lazy to repaint the borders in Space Wolves Grey).

Also, Stormsoul has been hard at work, drawing out, cutting and gluing together her Wood Elf cabin (the Building). She's got plans to fill it with papier mache to add some strength and resistance to it before she starts adding "the planks" to it. Not long left in which to do it all! But, she has also been adding paint to her Wardancers (no pictoral updatefor those yet).

Lastly, I have created my scenario, but do not yet wish to reveal it so that I can make any necessary tweaks as well as adding in some interesting fluff/background to it...

Some progress!

Hey to all and sundry, once again! This time around, after 8 days of procrastination and working (simultaneously somehow), we actually have some pictures to put up of our work! I managed to get the majoirty of my rank painted up with very minimal amounts left to do (I.E. basing and deciding if I'm going to have the unit be 10 wide or 7 wide [basically, if I'm going to paint another 3 skeletons or not]), Stormsoul has got the basis of her scenario completed (but she is going to look back through it to see if she wants to keep it the way that it is or not and she wants to add some fluff so that it's not all just rules), I also gave her an early Christmas present (since she gave me one of mine early: the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD because my other set had broken :'( But yay and whoop for the new one!) in the form of some Skaven rats, a couple of spiders and a baby dragon so that she could add them to her Venom Thicket when she's ready and, lastly, Stormsoul has been getting to work with painting some of her wardancers, although she is taking a little more time on one or two of them.

So, to start off with, here are my 7 Dwarf Skeleton Warriors! I realised, once I'd finished doing all of my written scheme (that was applicable to these models - I may have to do the unit champion to get the flesh and beard in as well!), that I had nothing for the weapon handles, nor the shields or bases! So, I decided to have a basic Chaos Black handle, since I didn't want it to detract from the rest of the model, but also didn't want it to blend it - I think it helps to frame them quite nicely. For the shields, I thought I'd be "clever" and steal Stormsoul's wood pattern (the condition of these shields is partly from clipping them off of old models [which will be my zombies] and them being glued ont he wrong way, hence the wood facing out), so they are Graveyard Earth, with a drybrush of Desert Yellow and the cracks are edged with Kommando Khaki (the flat, back side of the shields is also Chaos Black). As for the bases, again I didn't want it to detract, nor blend it, but I also wanted it to fit their mountain home - Space Wolves Grey was the answer, since I wasn't using it anywhere else (unlike the greys for the flesh or the browns of the belts/boots & spear-wraps) and I think to help finish them off nicely, I shall provide a smattering of snow to the base (much like my WotR Dwarfs - http://minesandmodels.blogspot.com/).

Ah, before I forget, (Stormsoul can confirm this as she sat next to me and I showed her so that I had back-up!) I have used Badab Black, like I said I would, but it's only int he recess of the ribs/stomach area, in the eye sockets and teeth and any cracks in the skulls (such as the big holes at the back of some and the scratches of the one-eyed one. His single eye has been painted Kommando Khaki [I think. It may have been Bleached Bone again...] after all other painting was done).

Stormsoul's scenario is based around her objective marker and trying to remove it from the board for nefarious deeds of corruption or trying to protect it from the blight of the forest's enemies to heal the wounded trees in the area. Sounds very exciting to me and I can't wait to play it (although it'll be easier for me to play at a larger points level when I have the Raise Dead spell!), but it's not ready yet and neither are our models. I haven't asked her if she wants it posted yet, so I won't reveal more than that except to say that the spite itself isn't so defenceless! Mwahahahahahahaha! (Note to self: cut down on exclamation mark use.)

This is the current state of the Christmas present that I mentioned - she's not yet begun painting and placing them because she's been unwell all week and is at work today (I think tomorrow as well) and has been working on her scenario and planning out her Wood Elf building.

Here are the wardancers thus far, meaning that we both only have two tasks left to complete each! I'm not yet sure what she wants said about these models, but they are still in need of bases (although I have custom built a movement tray for them. It's made from cork tile because that's what I had in my hand at the time). The two tasks for her are to make the Wood Elf building and to finish painting her Wardancers/Venom Thicket models (both only half tasks, really). My two tasks left to do are to finish off my Scree Slope and to create a scenario - I have the premise set in mind, but want to add a few eextra quirks to it to make it more interesting still!

I believe that that's all for this update, but I can always edit/add a post to include anything that I've forgotten!

The World's Most Belated Scores!

Well, it's that time of reading again,w hen I apologise for being so late. In my defence, this one isn't my fault int he slightest. I was waiting until roughly a week ago for the marks to be presented to me by Sousunou for the writing section of the last set of tasks and have been waiting (until now) for Skyjacker to get back to me with the same scores, as well as evidence of his objective marker. Having still not received either of Skyjacker's necessary tidbits, I have used an equal mark to give to myself, Sousunou and Stormsoul so that we can move on.

Ultimately, the gist is that I have finally been able to work out the last few tidbits for the scores! So, the end of the first set of tasks leaves us with the following:

• Hashut's Blessing in first with 37 points (aided by the complete all tasks first bonus)
• Stormsoul second with 34 points
• Sousunou third with 31 points
• Skyjacker fourth with 29 points

As for progress on this month's tasks, I still haven't got around to adding PVA to my river, although I'm thinking that it could quite easily ruin it and I'm still trying to figure out how to do it as is. I keep meaning to finish the sand and rock gluing on my Scree Slope, but things keep getting in the way (was filiming this week and then had a meeting today with a games education course and had to sort out my lost/stolen wallet problem), but this should be able to get done in time. Stormsoul has had parts for her Venom Thicket arrive today and plans to get to work on them A.S.A.P. However, may have to undercoat by brush, since Yorkshire was the worst region hit byt the snow in England ;) Sousunou is trying to work on his scenario primarily, since his materials are in storage at the moment, meaning he may not be able to get to them in time (but fingers crossed!). Skyjacker has, from the grapevine, got something that looks like it should be pretty damned fine when it's completed!

I don't believe that I've said this yet, but it's best to announce it just in case! We added another task to make up for the time extension and we have actually decided what it is now: our choice of painting one rank of models from our army list or a single character! This way, we get to test our colour schemes, everyone gets to see the end result of them and it'll take up a bit of extra time - it also satisfies those that wanted to see models, but haven't done in two and a half months... Since we're all so far ebhind with our terrain as is, we didn't think we needed a second additional objective, especially since we couldn't decide what it should be :D

As for scoring in this second set, we're going for a similar system of points based on the amount of progress per objective. An example (which will formt he basis of our discussion) is:

1. Chosen terrain: 1 point for a plan of how to do it/how it will look, 2 points for having made it, 3 points for having finished it.
2. Random terrain: 1 point for a plan of how to do it/how it will look, 2 points for having made it, 3 points for having completed it.
3. Scenario: The same marks out of 10 procedure as with the written portion of last month (being awarded for enjoyment potential, ingenuity, interestingness and fairness, etc. Note - those are guidelines, not strict points of consideration).
4. Models: 1 point for construction, 2 points for including the base colours, 3 points for adding the second colours and 4 points for using a third layer (these only count if they are in the colour scheme, which may be changed next month to rectify any problems). Of note - a character must visibly have taken as long as a minimum sized rank.

Any comments and constructive criticisms are most welcome. Would love to start hearing feedback from more than hero of gondor, although I do appreciate his(/her) comments ;)

As promised!

As I promised, I have pictures (as ever, I'm late with posting this. Why do I tell everyone I'm always late with this? Hmmm, oh well...) of my progress thus far! Raging Torrent sections, made from cork tile bases, thin strips of cardboard to heighten and define the banks, lightweight filler to build up the banks, a scattering of sand glued down to texture the water, spray black and add paint! The banks are Bestial Brown (to match Stormsoul's base colour so that we can place them on the same table and have the bases match), the water is Ultramarines Blue, with splodge-lines of Hawk Turqoise to show the running water and broken surface tension, highlighted with Ice Blue (I plan to add a few bits of pure Skull White for the very crests etc).

For the bends (of which you can see there are two, both of which curve 90 degrees to the left), I sloped the inside bank gently and the outside bank steeply to show how the sediment would build up in the direction that the water is travelling before the turn. I also added Scorched Brown to where it would be wet (even drbrushing it at the outside corner to show it had sprayed further) and then coated that with 'Ardcoat varnish to make it look freshly wet. I did the same thing to the ford after having built it up with cardboard and lightweight filler, covering it with sand and trying to  draw lines into the slopes banking up to the ford. Again, I painted Scorched Brown and added the same splodge-lines as before, then covered the whole of the ford part in 'Ardcoat varnish.

Lastly, the bridge part - same processes as before, but I drybrushed the sprayed black bridge with Fortress Grey. Pretty simple really. Anyway, as for my scenario, I'm currently leaning towards basing it around the "Forest of the Living Dead" scenario, by Richard Irvine (can be found here: http://www.angelfire.com/wa/dralair/enclave.html), although both Stormsoul and I are looking at http://www.biguns.co.uk/articles/scenariocards.asp for other ideas (amongst other places).

Stormsoul: From having the base shape, I then purchased some trees after finding it much simpler than making each tree from scratch. The trees were purchased at http://www.themodeltreeshop.co.uk/index.html
I went with a range of different trees as it's much more realistic. I used PVA glue to stick the trees in the places, this was quite a slow process as I waited for each tree to dry after a disaster where several fell off. Once all the trees were glued in place, I covered the base in lightweight filler, this was to smooth the sides as well as ensure the trees were secure. It also helped to make the ground look more realistic.
Once this was dry, I simply painted the whole base bestial brown, once this was dry, I stuck static grass on top.
The forest is not yet finished, as I want to add some vines and creatures to make it much more life like and to add in the venom for Venom Thicket.

Hashut's Blessing: Still awaiting any ideas for the extra task or two for us to start! Any help would be appreciated. Until next time...

Post-disaster Update

Well, it seems there was no disaster, other than me trying to make time to update this :D Sorry for that everyone, but got some great news. Actually, I guess that depends upon what your idea of great is. Anywho, this month was quite tough because Sousuno has a large personal concern going on at the moment that takes up a lot of time (don't worry, it's not a bad concern, just means the hobby comes second - stupid real life...) and I was away for two weeks, with Stormsoul not really having any knowledge in scenarios, nor having had any previous experience trying to build terrain (so needed my advice on technical stuff and the like). Where was I for those two weeks? I was in Manchester, filming a 10 part webseries, called Ramblers! Want to know more? Go to http://www.ramblerstheshow.com/ and you'll get to see the latest content and find out what's happening on their Facebook page.

[/shameless plug of awesome show that I enjoyed being a part of]. So, onto the news that I promised: because we've all been kept so busy that we decided to extend this month, as well as it being because we didn't really realise how long two pieces of terrain would take each of us to create and we kind of forgot slightly about the scenarios. Regardless, we also thought that with Christmas coming up, it would be best to extend this month further so that next month we can concentrate on building and painting models (hopefully we'll get them as Christmas presents or sell the socks and smellies we're given to buy our plastic crack!). As a result, this "month" is now two months, ending in the week between Christmas day and new year's day. To make up for that though, we are planning to add in some extra tasks, although we don't know what yet. Anybody got any suggestions? I have a couple of ideas, but would love to get some feedback on it first.

Where are we all stood at this moment in time:

• Stormsoul has completed her Venom Thicket, except for a few gribblies and such like to show that it's filled with poisonous critters, but her building design went a bit awry and she's not had the confidence to re-attempt drawing its plan out, so it looks like I've gotta help her with that. She's also been doing some research on scenarios to learn about them and use what she finds as a set of guidelines.
• Sousunou, from what I've heard, hasn't really got all that far, but with an extra month should be able to manage and can do any thinking stuff at work when he's doing nights and nobody's calling.
• Skyjacker - again, I've only heard this down the grapevine - has begun work on his Haunted "Mansion", but has quite a way to go, however, it's looking very promising.
• Lastly, me - Hashut's Blessing - I have made and painted all of my river sections and am very pleased thus far. Just got to start layering on PVA, then finish it off with a coat of 'Ardcoat gloss varnish, maybe add a layer of Asurmen Blue wash and it should be all good. As to my scree slope, I have made it slopier, but need to add more sand, as well as some rocks and more scree, then paint the new slopey bit and it's done! I've also been considering how to go about my scenario, but not confirmed anything as of yet.

I shall update this later today (maybe tomorrow) with pictures of Stormsoul's progress and my own, whilst we wait for any information/pictures from Skyjacker and Sousunou. Lastly, still waiting for the marking of the previous month to come through so that we can reveal who is where.

Pre-disaster Update!

Well, managed to finally get hold of something that will hopefully allow me to get much further with my terrain making, as well as allowing Stormsoul to get slightly further with hers. We couldn't find pollyfiller anywhere, so we got something that we though should work just as well: Lightweight Filler. Which means the terrain will be lighter too! Excellent since we're not trying to use it to build muscles... If anybody knows that this will fail, please let me know as soon as possible because I'm planning to get to work using this today!

After all, I have got to build up banks and riverbeds with this stuff, Stormsoul needs it to have a neat, sloped edge for her Venom Thicket, will probably want it a little bit for her "building" and I plan to also use it to make my scree slope more, well, sloped! Since I already had the scree slope, all I need to do is add some cardboard to its base to make it more slopey than it currently is, as well as allowing me to add more rocks and scree/sand etc. As to the cardboard, I spent far too much of yesterday building a new bed (Stormsoul told me to make the bed!) and had a large amount of cardboard left over from packaging - recycling is great for the environment!

Also, Stormsoul has found a few pictures as inspiration for her Wood Elf style building, including some excellent work from "An Hour of Wolves & Shattered Shields" (found here - http://www.hourofwolves.org/?view=articles&which=lothlorienConstruction) and after a quick Google search for "Wood Elf Building", this picture came up (from this website - http://spellforce.jowood.com/?lang=en&rid=1133), which is a large part of inspiration, at least for the utmost basic shape.

Next stage is to get Skyjacker to send me his damnable objective marker picture and get both Sousunou and Skyjacker to give me their scores for the background stuff - then I can actually let everyone know the scores and who's where in ranking so far. Was hoping to get the result sup within the first week, but that's out of the window, especially since I am away (filming a new web-series called Ramblers) for the next two weeks (including my graduation), so will have little time to update this (although Stormsoul might do for me) and won't get any work done until after that, hence me hoping to start today! Lastly, to my knowledge, none of us have started the scenario plans (so I may do that during downtime in filming), but Stormsoul and myself have been thinking of scenario rules to use nonetheless - nothing concrete yet.

Lastly, keep checking http://to4g.dannyjigg.co.uk/ in case Skyjacker or Sousunou update their posts on there (in which case, let me know if I haven't already mentioned it here).

First update of month 2!

Hello again to all! First of all, I want to apologise (as I seem to do at the start of all blog posts nowadays), but Skyjacker still hasn't sent the picture of his objective marker for me to upload. Secondly, nobody has actually told me what the scores they have given to each other's stories are just yet. Thirdly, I tallied up the points that I could whilst we wait for the background voting and I am currently in the lead (due in no small part to the fact that I finished first and got bonus points!). Something that has just occurred to me is that we haven't discussed how overall scoring shall be done. A few ideas that I just had where to total all of the scores and find out that way or we could assign a number of points to where you place each month (4 for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 2 for 3rd and 1 for 4th) and total those up or some way of combining the two or have two prizes instead of one, where we do each way? Also, maybe a "reader's vote" type thing where someone gets "most interesting stuff" or what-have-you? I'm just typing my thoughts as they happen.

So, before we get too bogged down with random conceptions, I thought that yyou might all like to see the current progress on Stormsoul's scenery, as well as my own! Stormsoul's piece is currently nothing more than a base for her Venom Thicket, made from a cork tile and two sheets of cardboard for resilience and depth. We've spent some time looking for polyfiller to find a decent price (for when we have money!) and some thin gauge, uninsulated wire (to no avail) for us both to use on our projects and any future ones to boot. She plans to make the trees herself from wire (which may also be used for vines) and then coat them with materials to make a tree-tecture. Beyond that, I can;t say her plans (partly because I'm typing this for her and she's asleep!).

My scenery, thus far, is just the protective base for my Raging Torrent sections. I got a little carried away with chopping up cork tiles (believe it or not, there were going to be another 3 long sections!), but at least I have a lot of options now. I measured the pieces to be 10cm wide (the cork tiles were 30cm by 30cm) and the river are is about 7cm wide (the banks are 1.5cm each). I cut half-centimetre wide strips of card to glue onto the banks to raise them a little and give me a marker for the bank's pinnacle, which will be built up uing pollyfiller (when we actually buy it).

As you can tell, I have made a variety of lengths, as well as two different kinds of bends - you may have also noticed that I have placed slab of cardboard in the middle of a shorter section, which is the basis of a ford. I decided that the Dwarfs would likely want easy access to their hold (for themselves, at least) and so purchased a bridge (£2.99 at a local pet shop), which I cut the ornaments (red "stone" balls on the corner pillars - where the black jagged circles are) off of and plan to repaint, add some Dwarf ornamentation and bury into some river and river bed/bank. All in all, quite a lot happening; the next stages are to add pollyfiller for shape and texture, add some sand for silt (although it's a Raging Torrent), add in some rocks/stones (would like to find some nice jagged ones), paint it all, add several layers of PVA glue, 'Ardcoat Varnish the top, add some paint for the crests of the crashing white water and base it! Not much.

As for the other two, not a clue how there's are coming along, but I can't wait to see them! Also, as far as I'm aware, none of us have yet begun our scenarios, which should come out quit einteresting, hopefully.

Month 1 completed!

Hello again all! Apologies for the week's delay, but been waiting for Sousunou to find a dongle to get his objective marker picture to me and I'm still waiting on Skyjacker's (although I've seen pictures on their phones for them, so they are completed :D ).

Anyway, we've all completed all of the tasks for month number 1! I completed them all first, so get the bonus points, but I'll tell you all the overall scores so far once we have marked the fluff from each of us. Without further ado, here's my objective marker, completed. I felt that the deep red of Scab Red would be a decent colour as it heavily implies dynamite and also helps to match the colour scheme planned for some of my undead. I added the Warlock Purple to the runes on the barrel to tie it in to the other undead as well and to prevent it being too bland. The Burnished Gold is to help bring the runes out and works well with the red, in my opinion,  and helps to make them stand out from the Boltgun Metal edging used on the trim of the sticks. A little Graveyard Earth on the fuses to make them look ropey and stand out fromt he Scroched Brown barrel and then I just continued the gold onto the trim of the barrel and the plunger, which was also Boltgun Metal. Catachan Green for the base and it's done! All on a Skull White basecoat because I was undercoating a bunch of stuff with white anyway and wanted to undercoat this and get it done.

Stormsoul: My objective marker is a magical sprite, that the Asrai need to protect for undisclosed reasons. It's the "Bad Faerie" model from Freebooter Miniatures, for those that are unsure - different to what was originally considered (see previous post). Anyway, the skin was done using Regal Blue as a base/shade, Ultramarines as a mid-highlight and a final highlight of Shadow Grey - I went with blue skin because it seemed more mystical/magical and helps to define it as a spirit, as opposed to an elf (with wings). Speaking of wings, I painted these (and her outfit) by starting with a base colour of Regal Blue (except her outfit doesn't have any blue!), adding Dark Angels Green, Snot Green and Scorpion Green in various stages to achieve the veiny effect. For her hair, I began with Scab Red, with a middle stage of Mechrite Red, highlighting with Blood Red - this is also a scheme I intend to use on some of my wardancers to have variation in their hair colour. Her boots are done with Calthan Brown, highlighted using Snakebite Leather, so that it would tie in with the leather in my main army. I then did the details (bone, rock and base) - these where Bleached Bone for the bone, Codex Grey, highlighted with Fortress Grey and dirtied with Vermin Brown and Bestial Brown drybrushed onto the rock and (without the greys) the base. I left the edges black so as to help it stand out as a marker, not scenery or a model.

Sousunou:
Apologies for the poor quality photo.
This marker is a chimney giving out a green tinged smoke stood next to an earthing rod. This is supposed to represent an underground lab or factory.

Hashut's Blessing: So, there we have three of the objective markers in their glory! For more personal updates, as well as our individual thoughts (sometimes paraphrased onto this blog), it's best that you head over to http://to4g.dannyjigg.co.uk/

Anyhow, for the next month, we decided to each choose a piece of terrain to build as well as randomly generate a second piece each (choosing a piece if rolling 2 or 12, instead of making up to 7 pieces from the random selection method) and creating a scenario suited to our army, including our objective markers. For our chosen pieces of terrain, I chose a Raging Torrent because it's a mountain river and fits the Dwarf Mountain Hold theme, as well as providing a nice +3I bonus to models int he water (combined with my ability to ressurect models to avoid the Dangerous Terrain problems). Stormsoul chose a Venom Thicket because Wood Elves have to have a wood anyway and it would provide her with Poisoned Attcks and she's immune to the Dangerous Terrain tests that it incurs. Skyjacker chose to take a Blazing Barricade, for the modelling opportunity it presented and Sousunou chose a Sinister Statue because he loves the idea of a piece of Skryre technology trying to destroy anything near by.

As for our randomly generated pieces, I ended up with a hill, which turned out to be an ordinary one, but we all decided it was boring and bland, so re-rolled (coming up with a hill again, but a different sort) and got Scree Slop, which is also pretty fitting. Stormsoul rolled up "a building", so has chosen to go along the route of a Wood Elf style house of some kind. Skyjacker generated a Haunted Mansion, although we agreed any sort  of haunted building woul ddo the trick. Sousunou managed to get an Abyssal Wood, so gets to create all manner of crazy Skaven-things with which to make models within cause Fear!

It's all coming together!

Once again, I've been slightly delayed in updating the blog this time around (I haven't got deadlines, just when something of interest happens, I'm posting it) because of heading to London for a Medieval banquet and then back to Essex to try to meet with Sousunou and hopefully Skyjacker. Regardless, got a few things to say, the first of which is that as of Friday night, I am the first to complete all tasks set for this month. I completed the painting of my objective marker and took pictures of it on Saturday morning (about 5am before leaving for London), but left my camera behind, so don't yet have the ability to post them. Stormsoul can vouch for this though ;) Also, Stormsoul changed her mind as to what her objective marker would be, landing on a faerie ornament that she shall use as a statue to represent Ariel (again, pictures when we get back to my camera) and earlier today completed her background information. Alongside this, Skyjacker has pulled his finger out and completed his army list, his unit names and his fluff. Sousunou has managed to complete his colour scheme and naming units/characters and we plan to meet tomorrow afternoon to work out what next month's targets are (I think some scenery would be cool and have some thoughts as to how to go about it, as does Stormsoul. We're also thinking that buying models is currently no problem, but that making and painting them may want to be reserved until the Christmas month so that people may be able to get hold of them that way too... Regardless, we need to come to a consensus and shall agree upon some targets tomorrow, hopefully!).

Sousunou:
Chieftain – Forg one eye
Warlock engineer – Skreetz the mad
20 Clanrats – Led by Zulbag the Backstabber
20 Clanrats – Led by Srekt Red eyes
20 Slaves – The remnants of Clan Yurz
20 Slaves – The remnants of Clan Belig
Warp Lightning Canon – ‘Manned’ by Fischnag


I decided to keep my range of colours fairly limited simply due to the number of models I will end up painting. Having said that, I want each model to look complete and of a high quality. I have had great success with the Citadel Washes in the past and will be trying to replicate that again. While I may have been able to simply use 1 colour and layer a couple of different washes over it I feel that this would not give me the level of control over the final outcome as the method stated below. This will probably backfire when faced with so many models but this is a Skaven army, so I should probably get used to that as well.


Basic Fur;
Base: Graveyard Earth
Main: Bestial Brown
Highlight: Rotting flesh or Kommando Khaki
Washed with Gryphonne Sepia or Devlan Mud
Flesh;
Main: Elf flesh
Washed with Ogryn Flesh
Cloth;
Main: Reds/Blues
Washed with Gryphonne Sepia or Devlan Mud to mute the colours and make them look dirty.
Metal;
Main: Mixed Silvers
Washed with Badab Black and Baal Red to mimic rust.
Wood:
Main: Snakebite Leather
Highlight: Rotting Flesh or Bleached Bone
Slave’s Cloth;
Main: Rotting Flesh or Bleached Bone
Detail: Graveyard Earth
Possibly washed with Gryphonne Sepia or Devlan mud to make them look equally dirty.

Stormsoul:
Wood Elves and Ogres
In the time of Winter, the forest of Athel Loren grows still and quiet. The spirits of the forest sleeping the dark day and night through, but the unknown is too attractive to some. Hordes of Orcs and Goblins ravaged through the vulnerable forest, burning it’s trees and hunting it’s animals. The Elves fought hard, but the unity of the forest was lacking and their numbers were too small for the raging hordes and the big, ugly brutish Ogres which fought alongside. As the ground hardened, the hordes found themselves in the heart of the forest, before the Oak of Ages itself. But the forest began waking with the turning of the season, the morning light revealed the rebirth of the forest. The unity of the Elves and Athel Loren was strong once more. Through the darkness a mighty horn bellowed, packs of hunting animals growled with fury and a massive form burst through the clearing, the hounds at its ankles. The Elves recognised the form as the mighty Kurnous, who challenged the horde. As he charged into them, the Elves found a new power and energy within and with the newly awakened Dryads, the Orcs and Goblins, with their hired Ogres, were defeated.
The Elves would meet the Ogres once more. Over the hills and through the dark forest, the Elves heard the mighty roars of what could only be the sound of Ogres feasting. A warband led by Gwytherc the huntress charged to find the mighty army of Orcs and Goblins attacking travelling Dwarf traders. The Dwarfs were outnumbered, the corpses being feasted upon the ugly Ogres. Never ones to allow evil to corrupt near their lands, for the first time in the history of Wood Elves, they fought alongside the Dwarfs, quickly defeating the Ogres once more and repairing the ancient bond with the Dwarfs.
The Elves of Athel Loren would no doubt once again face the Ogres, whether alongside the Orcs and Goblins or alone, for the forest will never know lasting peace.


Wood Elves and Dwarfs
The growing army of the dwarfs, unopposed in their domination of the old world, headed into the mysterious forest of Athel Loren. With their axes and fire they hacked and destroyed callously all they came across. Mighty Treemen and merciless Dryads awoke to fight the Dwarfs, but the long winter months weaken the forest and the stubbornness of Dwarfs quickly defeated their spirits.
The Dwarfs soon found themselves thrust into settlements, seemingly abandoned. The forest was no match for them, they believed. Suddenly they found themselves attacked with arrows, but no being to have shot them, the arrows came from each direction shortening their numbers quickly. Red-haired warriors fought with devastating dances, so quick and silent the Dwarfs slow reactions were no match and eventually, the stubbornness of Dwarfs was defeated.
The forest was not as it seemed.
The Wood Elves embraced their new home of Athel Loren which in turn accepted them more as protectors and allies. After the time of Ariel and Orion, in the present ruling of Ariel, the Wood Elves’ bond with their home would be tested more and more by the greed of Dwarfs, each time leaving each side with resentment for what had been lost.
But after the Elves of Athel Loren aided the Dwarfs, will the bond be strong enough to overcome the strangest of circumstances and avoid a fight to the deaths.


Wood Elves and Skaven
Long ago, before they became the Wood Elves of Athel Loren, the Elves fought against the Skaven many a time. As a race more interested in backstabbing and plotting against each other, the Skaven were a race the Wood Elves never feared.
In the early Spring, when the forest was waking up from its long winter, a relatively small group (compared to usual) of Skaven headed to the mysterious wood for tools, gullible to the danger waiting for them. They began using their strange contraptions to destroy the trees of Athel Loren, the nearby Wood Elf archers surrounding the scrabbling Skaven. In an instant the Skaven found themselves under attack by arrows. They searched around but their rat eyes were no match for the stealth of Elves. The Skaven did what they do best and began trying to tunnel under the hard ground of the forest to escape the rain of arrows, but the forest was alive and the Treeman pulled the dirty rodents from their hideout, ripping them in two. The Skaven fled the forest, blaming and biting each other on the way.
The Skaven had underestimated the power of Athel Loren and its guardians, they would be more prepared next time – if they ever stop fighting each other.

Skyjacker:
Heroes
Bruiser 130
Heavy armour +4
Enchanted shield +5
Cathayan long sword +8
Cathayan jet +30
2 Sword Knoblars +10


3 Ogre Bulls 105
Light armour +9
Ironfists +15 (keep their clubs too)
Full command +50
Lookout knoblar +5


4 Ironguts 192
Full command +50
Standard of Discipline +15


20 Gnoblar Fighters 40
Groinbiter +2


Rare
Gorger 75


Total points= 750


I also liked the idea of attempting to connect the races to my objective in a feasable manner, if only geographically at this point in time. With the objective vaguely located somewhere on the forest ridden edge of The Empire, this brings the Ogres closer to the other races. I like to think the other races are interested in also seizing this weapon, the Skaven due to its source of power and warpstone potential. Also the Vampire Counts in the hope of manifesting it to increase their influence over the mortal realms. Ogres are neutral, wandering out of curiosity and hunger. The Wood Elves are trying to stop all three races from taking this weapon for fear that it may be used to destroy their kingdom or for some other malicious ploy.


These are the names of the current mob, i won’t add more names of units/characters not in the story yet to avoid confusion. Most of this burly crowd has traversed from the same Ogre Kingdom at this point in time.


Bruiser ‘Big Shadow’ Skullcracker, underling of tyrant lord
Bale Ironskin
Gnoblar Fighters mob are the 'Feeble Laadstragglers’
Bulls= The Dusk Takers tribe
Ironguts = The Bearded Skywreck tribe or simply ‘the Skywreckers’
Bangbore leadbelchers tribe, kin of Ghark
Manhunter duo Thudhammer and Flailcrunch
Slavegiant, simply nicknamed ‘Paddy’
Any Gorgers that decide to turn up are obviously nameless as they are independent and appear at random


“After a hearty belch and thorough finger cleansing of his left nostril, Skullcracker casually discarded the remnants of the unfortunate pistolier that had regrettably refused to answer his earlier question. Angrily turning to face his travelling bull companions, Skullcracker could clearly see that they had become restless in search of food. In fact the entire platoon looked uncomfortable. The several sacks of meat supplies that had been carried by the decadent knoblars had long since ran out. Despite their slightly diminshed ranks due to a few of the gnoblars having looked particularly tasty to the Ironguts, the ogres had somehow held back on either eating or launching the entire unit. Despite their endless bickering, they would prove useful tools in carrying back Big Shadow’s prizes to his Tyrant; the gnoblars would be consumed once the mob had returned home.
Eyes flickered vacantly (though of course hungrily) amongst the warriors; they had been wandering the mountains for days, to have found only the occasional rogue goat or wandering human that that had somehow foolishly made it this far up into the mountains. They had been travelling for several weeks, and were now camped at a mountain side that gave two contrasting viewpoints. On one side, alive with persevering activity, the distant city of Zharr Naggrund, the sky above entrenched in a permanent red black haze of fumes intent on ravaging nature’s grip on the world. On the other side, the ogres gazed upon the desolate sands of the howling wastes, the winds grasping at nothing except the narrow valleys lining the Silver Road.
His ogre mob had travelled far west to this point by order of Shadow’s cousin, tyrant lord Bale Ironskin, on the basis of intel relayed by his loyal maneaters, Thudhammer and Flailcrunch. At the last great feast, they spoke heartily of a deserted ruin on the edge of the Empire rumoured to contain a mysterious weapon that would grant unassuming power to whoever could wield it. For the power crazed Ironskin, this provided too much curiosity for him to just slump back on his soiled throne. His realm was losing influence over the other kingdoms. To boast of unforseen treasures would surely fester feelings of awe and jealousy from the other kingdoms. His finest Bruiser and a mustered legion of whatever he could pull together would do the trick. Naturally, all ogres relished any new opportunity to cave in a puny lesser-race’s skull with new found weaponry. This prospect alone proved enough incentive for bickering ogres to form under the Bruiser’s lead and leave their tribal home. He may have been incessantly thick in the ‘ead, but the sheer stout build of Skullcracker somehow instilled a natural charisma in him to the rest of the ogres.
His ironguts, stallwart in their arrogance, wore crudely formed armour that they had picked up on their many adventures traversing the long since forgotten land of the Skygiants. In tow, encased in thick rusty chains stood a frustrated hill giant, it’s general groaning and stench more overpowering even than that of the ogres. It’s shins had worn away to little more than lumps of blackened deformed skin. Having been repeatedly kicked and whipped into shape by Ironskin, it’s formerly ravenous conviction was now utterly destroyed. Looking further up the mountain, it was clear to see it’s snowcapped peak drenching the west side in a blizzard.
The campfires burned slowly. Skullcracker bellowed loudly in a crude display of rage, unsettling the soot covered leadbelchers in such a way that they ceased the tinkering of their cannons and stood in as formal a formation they could muster. Perhaps this had been Bale’s plan all along… “

So, everyone's now got at least half of the targets done each :D We'll try and get some of the marking done tomorrow after we have finished sorting out the next month's objectives. Hopefully, we'll see the percentages come from Sousunou and Skyjacker for their armies, but I may do it for them (more so that people don't have to work it out for themselves than for the competition). I also think that whilst Skyjacker's reasoning on the Gorgers is good, he could give them a termt hat his Ogres use for them, but that could be me being stingy and pointing out we all named ALL of our units/characters. Then again, Sousunou named unit champions, but not units. Comments about that are welcome ;)

Lastly, I'd like to direct you all to Sousunou's own website, where he has set up a blog that allows us to all update it ourselves (with separate sections and the like), instead of this basic one. I'll still run this one, but that one is likely to be where we all post our stuff and then it gets collated here, so it may well be worth looking over there (especially since we all have a diary there). Since you could do with the link to get there, here it is: http://to4g.dannyjigg.co.uk/

Tidbits

Well, this time around I have some piccies for you. What you are about to see is my objective marker! It's essentially as many explosives as I could fit onto a base without it becoming difficult to paint or looking too crowded, whilst still looking dangerous. Hopefully, that's the case (and I still have about a dozen sticks of dynamite as well as perhaps as many blasting charges to help out!), but we'll see.

As you can see, it's made up of 5 sets of 3 sticks of dynamite, with 5 individual sticks, surrounding a barrel (I have decided of black-owder, not ale), with a plunger atop to set it off! Something to note: the weird green bit on the base isn';t actually there.... Very strange... I suspect foluplay by Sousunou's ratmen!

Stormsoul has the concept for her piece and is struggling to get back to work on her background writing, but the models that she is considering for her objective marker are the both faeries.

They are both from Freebooter miniatures and are Fairy and Fairy of the Woods, respectively (A.K.A. FAR001 and FAR002).

As for Sousunou's objective marker, from what I've heard, it shall either be a warpstone meteoric chunk or perhaps some "Clan Skryre gadget". When asked what it'll be like, the response was: who knows? *insert cheeky grin*

Regarding Skyjacker's army list, all we've managed to pry from his secretive lair is that he wants to take an Ogre Hunter when his points allow him to... Intriguing and most unhelpful, blogwise...

Massed masses massing

This time around, we have several updates to include. For my own army, I have completed an outline of my colour scheme and produced the first of a few pieces of fluff (including having to change a name due to the model that I wish to use: Helna's Rangers are now Hilngrim's Rangers...). Stormsoul has named all of her units, an in-depth detail of her colour scheme and begun work on her fluff/background (which will only be posted upon completion). Sousunou sent me his army list on the 29th of September, but I've only just got around to posting it up for him. Skyjacker forgot the new 8th edition % rules and was trying to fit an Ogre Lord into a 750pt army list, so is reworking it as I type. Lastly, I wanted to clarify the "points for objectives" system laid down because we have agreed upon it now.

To start off with, I shall detail my colour scheme thoughts:
Flesh - Base: Fortress Grey
           Shade: Shadow Grey (Possibly Asurmen Blue as well...)
           Highlight: Codex Grey

Bones - Base: Bleached Bone
            Shade 1: Devlan Mud
            Shade 2: Badab Black

Armour - Base: Boltgun Metal
              Shade: Asurmen Blue
              Trim: Warlock Purple (Skeletons) or Scab Red (Zombies)

Character beards/Etheral creatures - Base: Fortress Grey
                                                      Shade: Asurmen Blue
                                                      Highlight: Snot Green

Decorations - Eyes of Wights: Blood Red
                     Weapon trim: Burnished Gold (maybe Badab Black too...)
                     Character trim: Liche Purple
                     Leathers: Scorched Brown or Bestial Brown

My fluff is a set-up to the extended background thoughts I have for my army. Let's see how it fares (note: comments & criticisms welcome, but will only be taken on board after the points have been worked out).

"Rik Grakli Chufbeard swung again and agian, with seemingly wild abandon as his eyes glowed with fury and an unknowable loathing for the despicable grobi that he fell with night on every blow. His axe bit deep, trying to quench his green-eyed hatred, but never would he spill enough of the green-black blood to sate his ever-hungry desire to fulfil the thirst of grudge-killing that his entire race harboured for the jade-skinned foe.
As Duz-Peaks' Silverbeards tore chunks from the invading army, Thane Gruni Chufbeard at their head, leading them to the foul trolls and giants, ever ready to destroy that which threatened the hold and its people, Hilngrim took his expert rangers behind the enemy to wreak havoc upon the crude war machines and decimate the rear ranks of the grobi formations, remaining untouched from both arrow and choppa.

The Ironbeard Militia held the line on the flank furthest from Makaline the Red and the musty scent of the scantily spilt Dwarf blood wafted to him on the breeze of Waaagh! magic abundant on the battlefield. The electric tang of the emerald-aethyr brought with it the damp stench of rotting fungus that heralded the masses of gutted and cleaved orc and goblin-folk. His red hirst kicked in, but he kept himself in check, marvelling at the martial prowess of the unrelenting Dawu. He favoured the king and his champions as tutees and underlings, resolving himself to make thralls and minions of them all."

Moving onto the most necessary part of this post, I'll list the parameters of our little contest for the month, with the end of this round being sometime during the week of the 11th-17th of October (likely 15th-ish).

• +1pt for complete, legal list (0pts for incomplete/illegal list, -1pt for unstarted/incomplete&illegal list)
• +*pts for named units/characters (where * is the percentage of named units and characters divided by 10 [this will be rounded to the nearest whole number for simplicity])
• +0-3pts for fluff/background information on your army (-2pts for nothing, -1pt for less than a paragraph. The points shall be worked out by totalling marks out of 30 [each opponent gives a mark out of 10 and then they are added together], then dividing them by 10 [again, rounding to the nearest whole number])
• +1-4pts for base colours, +1-4pts for shades/highlights, +1-4pts for further shades/highlights (the range is to allow one point per area [such as flesh, armour, cloaks, hair]. -4pts for no colours at all, -2pt for no shades/highlights per area and -1pt for no third colour per area)
• +1-3pts for an objective marker (+1pt for an idea, +1pt for the constructed piece, +1pt for painting it. Note: -1pt for nothing)
• +5pts for completing all stages
• +3pts for completing all stages first

Hopefully, that simplifies things, but it will be made clear at the end of the month who got how many points for what ;)

Next is Sousunou's army list as he sent it to me. It'd be great if he'd added the % of each selection and if he'd have explaine dsome decisions, but we're still working out the blogging method. When I am posting what he's written, it shall be in orange.

Sousunou: --------------------
- Heroes - 185 pts -
--------------------
Chieftain   45
Additional hand weapon  2
Tail weapon   8
Poisoned attacks  15
Warlock engineer  15
Level 1    50
Warp Energy Condenser  20
*Doom Rocket   30

------------------
- Core - 470 pts -
------------------
20 Clanrats   80
Shields    10
Command    20
>> Warpfire Thrower  70
20 Clanrats   80
Shields    10
Spears    10
Command    20
>> Warpfire Thrower  70
20 Skavenslaves   40
Slings    10
20 Skavenslaves   40
Slings    10
-------------------
- Special - 0 pts -
-------------------

-----------------
- Rare - 90 pts -
-----------------
Warp Lightning cannon  90

-------------------
- Total - 745 pts -
-------------------



Stormsoul: For the naming of my army, I decided to give each unit and character an elvish name.
The Spellsinger - Lithoniel
This means "From the ash tree"
Dryads - Lithornrim
This means from "Ash trees" - Due to the above, myself and (you) felt it would be a good idea to have the dryads named after ash trees as well, we toyed with the idea of "the ashling" but I really wanted each to have an elf name.
Glade Guard - The Aech-ohtarrim
Aech is the standard used in this unit, ohtarrim means "warriors".
Wardancers - Merka salkrim
Merka means "wild" and salkrim means "dancers"

For my army, I wanted to keep with a traditional wood elf scheme;
Wood;
Base colour: Graveyard Earth
Hightlight 1: Desert Yellow
Hightlight 2: Cammando Khaki
(After google searching Ash trees, I found the bark is quite grey in colour and thought the names of the units should reflect in their colours)
cloth;
Base colour; Goblin Green
Main: Scorpion Green
Flesh;
Base colour: Tallarn Flesh
Main: Elf Flesh
Hightlight 1: Bleached Bone
Cloaks;
Base colour: Dark Angels Green
Main: Snot Green
Hightlight: Goblin Green
Leather;
Base colour: Bestial Brown
Main: Vermin Brown
OR
Base colour: Calthan Brown
Main: Snakebite Leather
Metal;
Base colour: Boltgun Metal
Main: Chainmail
Highlight: Mithril Silver
Hair:
For elves, this tends to be complex for me.
Spellsinger;
Base colour: Iyandun Darksun
Main: Golden Yellow
Hightlight: A mix of Golden Yellow and White
Glade Guard;
Base colour: Iyandun Darksun     Codex Grey
Main: A mix of Iyandun Darksun and Bleached Bone                Fortress Grey
Highlight: A mix of Iyandun Darksun and Skull White             White
Wardancers:
Base colour: Scab Red        Blood Red
Main: Blood Red              Blazing Orange
Highlight: Blazing Orange

Next is Stormsoul's paintscheme, preceded by her unit/character names (with reasons as to why, yay!). Whenever I quote her, I shall use pink.

Choosing, Naming & Changing...

Skyjacker forgot to tell me that he's changed his army choice from the High Elves to the Ogre Kingdoms and is currently in "research & Development" stages.

Stormsoul has written her Asrai list, which looks a little like this:
Spellsinger - Level 2
                 - Elynett's Brooch
                 - Pageant of Shrikes
                 - 170pts

Dryads - 12
            - 144pts

Glade Guard - 16
                     - Standard Bearer
                     - Musician
                     - Aech - Banner of Springtide
                     - 235pts

Wardancer Troupe - 10
                              - Musician
                              - Bladesinger
                              - 201pts

Totals: 750pts, 39 models, 22.7% Heroes, 50.5333% Core, 26.8% Special (05 Rare & 0% Lords).


Lastly, I (Hashut's Blessing) have performed a further stage of our efforts thus far - I have named my characters and units! My Wight King is Thane Gruni Chufbeard, my Necromancer is the runepriest Throkni Stonesmite, my Skeleton Warriors are the Peak's Silverbeards, the Zombie Horde are the Ironbeard Militia and the Cairn Wraiths ar Helna's Rangers (Helna is the Banshee).

I submit to ye readers the above information for perusal and comment.