Cryx Complete!

I finally finished my first twenty-five point Cryx army. It was fun to paint real fast and loose. Not having to worry about sharp contrasts and using very dark colors made for some fast painting. Well, fast for me anyways. Here are the photos of the Slayer, Skarlock, Withershadow Combine and Bane Knight unit. I'll get a group photo once I dig up my tripod. My gaming group meets tomorrow night so I will see how Asphyxious and his forces fair against Skorne and The Searforge.

For my painting techniques, I followed the same method I used on the Bonejacks, with additional colors as needed. For example, the Skarlock soul snowball. I tried to tie the armor on the Bane Knights into the armor Tartarus is wearing by applying Great Coat Grey to the shields, shoulders and chest plate. The Withershadow Combine got a splash of color in Warlock Purple used on some of the cloth pieces.

Again, speed painting here to get the models done and on the table. This project was done in just under two weeks. I am happy with the results. Next for Cryx will be a Pistol Wraith, a War Witch Siren, and the Cankerworm!

-Wicked

As I continue to slave away over my Cryx, I thought I would share some photos of some other work. Here we have my Circle of Orboros warpack. I painted them way back when Hordes was released. I tried to play on the Little Red Riding Hood/Big Bad Wolf theme from the painting in the MkI rulebook by keeping Kaya's cloak a very warm red. I tried to keep the tones dark and earthy while having the deep green in the golden armor as the unifying color. Recently, I won a painting award for Best Unit at Bayou Wars with these models as my entry. As with many of my forces, the rest of my Circle army is a work in progress. I'll post more as I finish them.

Oh yeah, this is a painting blog!

I have several painting projects going on right now, with all of them at various stages of completion. Despite how much I enjoy painting, I definitely have to be "in the mood" to sit down and paint miniatures. One of my projects is a small Cryx force for my game club. A few of us decided to play with an alternate faction than the ones we primarily play, just to add a little diversity to our games. We choose 25 point lists as a reasonable place to start. It just so happens I have been picking up certain Cryx models here and there over the years with the alternate faction idea in mind. And then Privateer Press released the Retribution of Scyrah and I choose them instead. I have a weakness for space elves, it seems.

Anyways, in painting these models, I decided I wanted to go with a very limited palette and use some speed painting techniques. I want to get the models painted quickly, as I would like to play them fully painted. I think Cryx lends itself to a speed painting method because the ragged, tattered and dirty nature of the faction does not have to be perfect. I mean, they are a legion of Undead, Necromancers, and Pirates, right?

My 25 point list includes:

Iron Lich Asphyxious

-Slayer

-Deathrippers x 2

-Skarlock

Bane Lord Tartarus

Bane Knights x 6

The Withershadow Combine

The base colors are P3 Greatcoat Grey and Necrotite Green and GW Brazen Brass, Bolt Gun Metal, and Bleached Bone. My version of "speed" painting involves glueing the base substrate on before spray priming the models with P3 black primer ( I love this primer). I then base coat the model with the above colors. Once that is done, I give the whole model a wash of P3 Armor Wash and GW Chaos Black thinned down with water. This really darkens the model. Then I hit the base coated areas again with a thinned down wash of the base colors. Afterwards, I do a very light drybrush of the Greatcoat Grey and Bolt Gun Metal areas with paint straight from the pot.

For the Brazen Brass areas, I do an additional straight GW Black Ink wash to for more shading. Then I use Windsor Newton Inks sepia tone for a rustic metal effect. Finally, I do a very light drybrush of GW Shinning Gold and P3 Radiant Platinum.

For the bone colored areas, I used GW Bleached Bone. On top of the shading the entire model gets, I add another P3 Brown Ink wash. Once that is dry, I mix GW Bleached Bone with P3 Menoth White and some mixing medium. This is then drybrushed over the raised areas before the final P3 Brown Ink wash is applied. Finally, I pick out the teeth P3 Menoth White.

The bases are done in GW Vermin Brown. I then add GW Bleached Bone to the base color and drybrush this mixture over the raised rocks. This is done two times, with the second drybrush having more Bleached Bone color than Vermin Brown. Finally, I use superglue and dip the base in some static grass. Once all of the excess static grass has been removed, I hold the model upside down and gently blow on the grass. This causes it to dry sticking up rather than laying flat once the model is held right side up again.

Finally, I hand seal all of the models with Microsystems matte varnish mixed with water.

I know that is not the traditional "dip" speed painting method, but using this method, I cranked out those four models in two nights. For me, that is fast!

I'll post more photos as I get more of the models done. And I know I need to take better photos, but I need a tripod and a lightbox to do them correctly, so I was improvising here.

Enjoy!

-Wicked

Game Store Review: The Tower Game Center

Recently, I took a vacation to Atlanta, Georgia to attend a wedding and to visit family there. Like I do whenever I travel, I like to check out the game stores in the area. Little did I know what a gem of a find I would make when I came across The Tower Game Center. It was as if I stumbled into the game store I once dreamed of opening. So what was it about Tower Games that made it so appealing? Was it the 5400 square feet of gaming goodness? Was it the considerable product in stock or the immense board game selection? Was it the calendar of gaming events or the dedicated tavern-themed role playing room?

In the end, it was the people I met there and the sheer pleasure of shopping where the owner truly connected with his customers. And to this I sincerely owe my thanks to the store's owner and operator, Andrew Phillips.


It has been my experience with game stores that there is a certain amount of "club house effect" inherent with them. By that I mean the regulars don't readily warm up to any new people who wander in off the street. I know I am guilty of this. This can create a little awkwardness and perhaps make the new person feel a little uncomfortable. However, from the moment I said "Hello" Andrew was very gracious and accommodating. He was playing a game of Warmachine at the time, but took time out to introduce himself and let me know if there was anything he could do for me just to let him know. While this may seem standard fare for retail, it was how he went about doing it that was impressive. Andrew was very courteous, helpful, and knowledgeable about products he sold. It was as if I were...a priority for him should I need his assistance. As a customer, this was how I should feel in any retail establishment.

The next thing that struck me was the size of his game store. There is ample space to play pretty much any game you can think of. There were booths that seemed ideal for playing card games, several dedicated gaming tables with an ample selection of terrain features, and a rentable room in the back for roleplaying. I really liked this, as the room was decorated and made to look like a tavern. I even hear that Andrew is making room for some pool tables, too.

In addition to the gaming space, there were other little amenities that really showed the store was tailored for gamers. The height of many of the game tables made playing on them easy on the back. There is a dedicated painting station. A computer with some force building programs on it to make and print out army lists, is also available. There are plenty of comfortable stools and chairs. You can rent a board game to try it out before you buy it, if you like. Several general purpose fold out tables and several snacks and drinks were also available. The store calendar was full of events, ranging from dedicated gaming nights to Pizza and Paint night to D&D Encounters to, if I recall correctly, a Magic pre-release tournament. No matter what your gaming poison, it seems you can find a time to play what you want to play at least once a month there.

The other noticeable thing was the amount of gaming product in stock at the Tower! The board games alone run the length of one wall and then some, from floor to ceiling. There are plenty of miniatures games to choose from, ranging from the usual suspects of Games Workshop, Privateer Press and Flames of War to some of the newer games like Malifaux, Uncharted Seas, Firestorm Armada and many more. There are several army transport and gaming bags to choose from as well as an extensive hobby and painting supply section.

I made several visits to the Tower and played many games of Warmachine. In fact, I played more games of Warmachine with many of the folks there over a few days than I have had a chance to play here at home over the past few months! And each game was a fun and enjoyable experience. I did get to play Andrew himself more than a few times (and I learned why I should hate Menoth Bastions) as well some other folks, many of whom I forgot the names of ( I am terribad with names). However, one particular player did stand out as super fun to play against, Mr. Kit Smith. He must have beat me six games in a row, all by the skin of his teeth. One game went on for well over an hour! He was very fun to play against despite being somewhat new to the game. There were many others I played that were very nice and we had some fun games. I got the impression that the gaming community at the Tower was very tight knit yet very relaxed and laid back. This made for a thoroughly enjoyable gaming experience.

So great product selection, fantastic customer service and shopping experience, and more room to game than one could possibly need are all reasons to check out Andrew's store. If you are in the Atlanta/Lawrenceville area of Georgia and are looking for a place to roll some dice and play some games, check out The Tower Game Center. You will be doing yourself a favor!

-Wicked

Bayou Wars 2010 WARMACHINE Steam Roller Tournament

I had some great fun at Bayou Wars this past weekend. It was great to see many of my old skool gaming buddies, hang out with the usual gaming suspects, and meet some new ones through the tournaments. I'll post a more in depth review of the weekend later, but for now here are some pictures from the WARMACHINE Steam Roller Tournament on Friday. I fielded Commander Striker and a shooty heavy Cygnaran force. In these photos, I was pitted against Ang, a player from Austin, Texas. She brought an impressively painted Menoth force led by Amon Ad-Raza. While my Boys in Blue won in our particular game, I wound up going 2-2 over all. In the Hardcore Tournament the next day, Ang deservedly won the Master Craftsman award. It really was an impressive army.

I'm looking forward to next year!

Enjoy.

-Wicked

Star Wars The Old Republic MMO Trailer

In keeping with the new MMO video theme, I present this bad ass teaser trailer. Jedi Consular anyone?

Warhammer 40,000 Dark Millenium MMO

Straight from E3. Count me in!