I'm baaaaack! (Introducing Levi)

The hiatus is over! Hurrah!

And I have even managed to finish my first Necromunda gang member - Levi of The Straight Edge Society.

Hopefully this poor lowly juve will give you an idea of the colour scheme for this gang.

Hiatus (rats!)

This blog will be on a hiatus for a little while - but in the meantime, have some rats!

Progress!

It's slow, but it's a start!

Real life...

...has a way of getting in the way of the things we'd all rather be doing!

Still, this weekend (fingers crossed) will provide hobby time to start painting some Necromunda minis...

Sorry for the slow progress!

Finally! (Aka testing the photo capabilities)

A sneak peek of my sentinel for the Smethwick 19th - Der Vernichter.

I will today be undercoating the last of my prepped models (for now!) and then it'll be painting rather than polycement for a while!

Sounds like a plan...

This weekend I hope to put together my Sentinel for Inquisimunda.

This, when based and undercoated along with Squad Castiel, will pretty much be the end of me assembling and prepping miniatures for a while.

Which, therefore, leads to me painting stuff!

I hope to find time this weekend to take pictures and post up the few bits and pieces I've already painted. These will all be Mordheim, and are a couple of years old now (nothing painted since!) - so expect them to be fairly pants.

Anyway, bear with me and there should be some photos over the next few days to make this blog actually worth a look!

She cannae take any more cap'n!!

I was lucky enough to receive a voucher for Christmas for GW. After a few minutes browsing their site for inspiration for what to spend it on I came to the revelation that I didn't want any more models right now. Thinking of all the old school and kit-bashed gems I've already got collecting dust and patiently awaiting their paint jobs, I couldn't bring myself to add to the pile.

For once, it seems, I engaged my brain rather than my impulse-led heart!

I spent my voucher (and a little extra) on a can of Chaos Black and some new flesh tone layer paints. And you know what? I don't regret that decision one bit.

For all the wondrous technical wizardry and the ever-improving sculpt qualities, the modern stuff often lacks a little charm, a little quirkiness. It sometimes is a little *too* serious and grimdark.

Now, don't get me wrong, where a new model or kit is an absolute peach, I'm all for it (Nurgle Lord, Chaos Cultists, 40k scenery etc) - indeed you'll see newer stuff as I make headway into my various projects, but I've got so many incredible OOP models and other pieces I just couldn't justify dropping my money (voucher or real) on new stuff.

This isn't a rant against GW - I guess it's just realisation that I might finally have reached saturation point...

At least, for the time being... I've had one eye on Blood Bowl for a while! ;)

(Don't worry reader, the blog is only just starting! :) There might even be some pictures soon!)

As if I didn't have enough projects on the go...

Browsing across gaming fora can lead you in many interesting directions - while there's only really Yakromunda still active for Necromunda discussion, I did chance across Inquisimunda in my travels.

Now, I don't need much of an excuse to start a new gaming project (as my other posts will clearly show!!) so I decided to put together a couple of warbands as much as modelling/painting exercises as to game with.

Here's what I've got planned:-

Smethwick 19th 'The Metalheads' - Imperial Guard Kill Team

The Razor's Edge - Xenos Strike Force (Eldar)

Astartes allies
Hired guns

Underhive - Sector B67

Looking back, I think it was inevitable that I'd be drawn back into the wild underhive of Necromunda.

There's something incredibly cool about putting together a gang of ne'er do wells and murderous juves. It's probably what makes Grand Theft Auto so popular - it's fun to play the bad guy once in a while.

Necromunda is where my collector instincts really kicked in - I simply had to have all the original miniatures for my chosen gangs. Most are complete - some still need a few stubborn OOP models to finish them off. I even put together a couple of counts as gangs from old Rogue Trader era miniatures.

Again, Mrs G is getting stuck in - with a gang of Escher I spent ages collecting for her...but she has the range to choose from so she'll have plenty of options!

So, here's what I've got planned:-

The Yoyogi Crew - Orlock
Special Ops Task Force Sigma Black - Van Saar
The Wiseguys - Delaque
The Straight Edge Society - Cawdor
The Ghostdancers - Ratskin Renegades
The Sump-Suckers - Scavvies
The Wandering Crusade from East Hive - Redemptionists
Clan Redbeard - Squats (counts as Van Saar)
The Troupe - Harlequins (counts as Escher)
The Temple of the Rust Star - Chaos Cult (counts as Cawdor)
Die Schrottplatzmänne - Pit Slaves
Squad Castiel - Marine Scout Novitiates
K2 Command - Enforcers

Karloth Valois
Brakar the Avenger

The Hireling Agency - 30 Hired Guns

City of the Damned

The first real bug I caught upon returning to the hobby was Mordheim. Collecting was limited to the Dramatis Personae, but it did reignite a dormant passion for classic OOP Citadel/Marauder miniatures which I've included in many warbands or as hired swords.

Mordheim (and Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum) did rekindle my interest in homebrew rules and the like. I'd always preferred campaigns and games with elements of role play (I'm a big RPG geek too after all) and Mordheim offers a cure for every gaming itch!

Mrs 5 is even getting in on the action with a Sisters of Sigmar warband (and Bertha).

My plans for Mordheim are:-

Official

The Black Lion Brigade - Witch Hunters
Baron Hochroter's Unholy Retinue - Undead
The Filth-Eaters - Cult of the Possessed
Da Krumpaz - Orcs and Goblins
Dunaar's Self-Preservation Society - Dwarf Treasure Hunters
The Jade Legion - Nipponese (counts as Reiklanders)
Crew of the Red Shark - Pirates (counts as Marienburgers)
Khorzak's Raiders - Beastmen
The Cult of Zahlen - Cult of the Possessed
The Red Feathers - Stirland Outlaws
Skritrit's Warphunters - Clan Eshin
The Reitwein Rebels - Chaos Thugs (counts as Middenheimers)
The Bulls Head Boys - Ostlanders


Unofficial

Baergrum's Doomchasers - Slayer Cult
Orthic's Exploratory Party - Imperial Dwarves
Les Défenseurs du Lac - Bretonnian Chapel Guard
Da Iron Moonz - Night Goblins
Da Great Gnobbo Revolooshun - Gnoblars
The First Awakened of Zandri - Tomb Guardians
The Linebreakers - Ogre Maneaters
The Growling Gut Tribe - Ogre Nomads
Blug's Meatgrinders - Butcher's Retinue
The Doom-Maw Pack - Clan Mors
Dancers on the Waves - Sea Elves
Agents of the White Tower - Saphery Elves
The Lothern Guard - Lothern Elves
Gunnar's Reavers - Marauders

Aenur
Johann the Knife
Veskit

The Hireling Agency - 130 hired swords.

Think that little lot will keep me busy!

Revving up

Gorkamorka always seemed like an interesting concept - although I never played it at the time, the thought of gangs of Orks ripping around on trukks looking for scrap (and a scrap!) retained an appeal for me.

So, thanks to eBay I picked up a cheap starter box and planned and collected two gangs - Orks and Diggas.

So, this is what I have planned for Gorkamorka:-

Da Rustbukkit Salvidge and Rekkidge Kumpanee AKA Da Rustbukkitz - Orks

Da Nackerz - Diggas

At the foot of the mountain

The next few posts will set out the magnitude of the task I've set myself, broken down by game and what I have to do for that system. I'm not gonna list scenery/terrain, and at this stage I'm not gonna list individual squads/regiments/etc. That'll come when I have something painted for that particular force!

I'll start with the easiest (and in some ways least interesting) for GWs big three systems.


40k

Hive Fleet Tsuchinoko - Tyranid army
Blood and Bile Brotherhood - Chaos Space Marine army


WHFB

The Host of Saphery - High Elf army


Tolkien-set games

Mordor warband (no cool fluff name for these guys (ｰｰ;) )

Well it had to start somewhere!

Hi, I'm Alex Goddard and I'm a collector, hobbyist and gamer (generally in that order) of wargames, specifically Games Workshop games.

Returning to a much beloved child/youthhood hobby is a double-edged sword - on the one hand I have more patience and I'm a little better resourced; on the other I have less time and more stress!

That said, with the love of a very understanding and supportive wife, I find myself back plunged back into the wargaming hobby - and up to my neck in sprues and metal!

My first forays into the 'hobby' were Space Crusade and Citadel Combat Cards. Then, through White Dwarf came submersion in both Warhammer 40k (second edition) and WHFB (the elf and goblin big box). This was quickly followed by Necromunda and Warhammer Quest and a little dalliance with Blood Bowl. Fell out of the hobby sometime in 2000ish and missed it hugely - making the regrettable error of throwing out all my old stuff along the way (I know, I know).

Anyway, enter the now Mrs G. A tonic for the soul and an artistic muse who quickly picked up my need for a creative outlet. With her support I made that difficult first step back into the hobby.

First WHFB, then 40k and then a gnawing nostalgia took me into Necromunda, Mordheim and Gorkamorka. I was, and remain, hooked.

Now, a handful of years since returning to the hobby and I have the box room (affectionately called the 'Geek Room') to store my gaming stuff... which brings me back to the eyeball-level stacks of sprues, scenery and miniatures that are almost crying out for some attention.

So, this blog is a way of attempting to keep on track, to actually complete some hobby goals and, one day, to form a chronicle that I can revisit, misty-eyed and full of wonder that I ever managed it all.

If anyone out there finds this interesting, amusing or inspirational (yeah, yeah - as if!) then even better, but regardless, this blog will roll on, an unstoppable juggernaut of hobby goodness and occasional rants.