Fimir - Fianna Fimm

I've been busy this week painting four fianna fimm for our Oldhammer event this weekend at KnaveCon. I got them finished last night.

I've had these fellows primed and ready to paint for some time, and as I whipped through them, ideas came to mind. I'm loathe to convert such old minis, but I couldn't help thinking a hood and cloak held by a broch would look good on one, maybe a Scibor Celtic shield on another. I didn't have time for this though, so I ploughed on.

Now that they are done, I'm beginning to regret my rashness. For a start, I'm not happy AT ALL with the skin. Way too patchy. Added to that one of them has a little mis-cast on his chest which I missed when cleaning them up. Some folks would leave this and move on, but my OCD forbids such a move. So, with that in mind, once KnaveCon is over, these lads are destined for the Dettol, some conversion work, and a do-over. Hence the lack of grasses and moss on the bases, they'd just be wasted.

It's not all flowers and sunshine here at the Mumblings, some days it's a fail.

Oldhammer at KnaveCon 3

The Oldhammer group will be running a participation skirmish game at KnaveCon 3, a four player competitive/cooperative/whatever ye like yerself raid in which rival fimir warbands have come across a sleepy halfling village ripe for the plucking. Each warband is desperate to take more than it's share of plunder and captives back to it's mist-shrouded home, and they must make sure to grab as much loot as they can before the halflings mysterious protectors arrive to spoil the party...

"Dirach Grunsgul stepped out from the cloying mists surrounded the wyrdstone and regarded the halfling settlement with a mixture of joy and disbelief. How had such an apparently defenceless village survived this long? He could see pens of sheep, stacks of corn and fat pigs amongst the small houses. There wasn't even a defensive wall surrounding the place. He shook his head in wonder. Close by, another fimir group emerged from the morning fog. It must be Murdach and his raiders thought Grunsgul. He turned to Goll and his warriors and gave them the signal to attack. Presently the screaming began. The huge fianna fimm Odhran's face wrinkled into a toothy grin, and he hefted his mace and plodded after the others.

The clan would eat well tonight."

KnaveCon 3 - Even More Free Coffee

On March 1st, the third KnaveCon will be held at the Kilmurray Lodge hotel in Limerick. The last KnaveCon was a huge wodge of fun dipped in the sauce of gooey gaming goodness. Served with coffee. Free coffee.

We expect bigger and better things this time, so prepare for gaming deliciousness. You can see all the hubbub at the KnaveCon facebook page.

I and some of my oldhammer confederates will be running an oldhammer participation game concerning some innocent halflings, competing foul-intentioned fimir raiding parties and a possibly heroic slann rescue party. We're not certain of the intentions of the frogs just yet. Do call over if you're about!

Fimir - Crom Cannon Finished

Latest off the painting table are two less than world-shaking yet very satisfying items for the army. Two base extenders, one for the meargh and one for my hellcannon, Crom Cruach. I've been tinkering away at the bits I needed for the cannon version of Crom for a fair old while in between other models, and it's finally off the table. As for the meargh, the first attempt at a base extender turned into a whole new character. My second attempt was less ambitious and worked out just fine. Both of the bases are lined with rubber steel so the models hold fast during gameplay.

The Crom cannon

The slots are covered in rubber steel for the models to magnetise to.

A 50x50mm extender for the meargh.

Fimir - Mud & Bone

I've been doing a lot of base work of late. This is no great trial, as I love basing in general, but it's been there have been no actual models attached to the bases I've been doing lately. The reason for this is that both are bases that models magnetise to, allowing me to get more bang for my buck as it were. My meargh can now sport either a 40x40mm or 50x50mm base. The 50x50 gives her a little more height too, which she badly needs when she's masquerading a a daemon prince. The other is a 100x150mm size base for Crom, so I can use him as a hellcannon as well as his regular 50x100mm chariot base. The 100x150mm base is almost done now, some more details and it's ready for the table.

I've made extensive use of ogre parts for the fimir, as there are so many fantastic bits. Bones, hooks, traps, bags, weapons, buckets and so on, basically conversion gold. You can see here a really tasty bit from one of the ogre sets, probably the thundertusk kit.

Fimir - Maggoty Crew

A small update today. Small and disgusting. I've had the 'crew' for my hellcannon, Crom, primed and on the painting table for some time now. I'm still painting the base they sit into, which you can see here. They are lovely little worm guys from Heresy miniatures. Pretty simple models, the only bit of pop on them is the grub's face in the middle. Still, it's another tick off the list, a list which is killing me at the moment.

Apart from a little detour to paint my dirach, I've been house keeping with the army for a good while now. Finishing movement trays, my fourth and final marlwyrm rider, some base extenders and some more dogs, I've been a puritan over the last few months in that I've denied myself any other painting until this stuff is wrapped. At this juncture only the dogs and marlwyrm remain, but by Jaysus it's been a tough road. I've been so tempted by the hobby butterfly it's almost reduced me to tears. Fimir, nobles, skeleton warriors, fenbeasts, genestealer hybrids, blood bowl undead, chaos dwarf war machines, all have wiggled their unpainted temptations at me. Added to that the imminent arrival of 15mm Martian tripods, which I know will send me over the edge.

Despite all this I've stayed faithful to the to-do list as I'm determined to get the fimir to 2,500 points sooner rather than later. I have plans for a display board too, which will take some time if I end up doing what's in my sketch book.

After that, who knows, I change my mind daily.

New Dwarves - Thwoppa Thwoppa!

So the new dwarves are getting toward the week two releases, most eminent of which are the gyrocopters. This is going to be the marmite release for the range, methinks. Here's the images, courtest of Plastic Krak.

 As you can see there are two variants, the smaller gyrocopter and the larger gyrobomber. My first impressions of the model was not positive. The bright colour scheme and the curved hull made the copter look very modern. However, once I saw the side view, the blades and detail, I warmed to them very quickly. I think painting them as metal or wood would make a huge difference to the look of the thing, but then, fantasy helicopter? It's always going to look a bit weird, and frankly it's one of the few remaining humorous models left in warhammer to remind us that this game once had it's tongue firmly planted in it's cheek.

The smaller copter looks like a wee angry bee, and I like it. The Da Vinci style mechanisms are lovely, and the pilot is super groovy with his flying googles and jacket. It would almost make a man want to play dwarves.

Below is the new runelord and iron breakers. They are really very nice indeed. I can see dwarf fans all over having a little cry over how handsome the new dwarves are. The thing about these new dwarves is that they are such a leap forward they make the existing dwarf range look like badly dressed cosplayers. A new warriors/thunders set is now badly needed.

Genestealer Cult - Hybrid Bits Hunt

After some chatting on among the bloggers the fire is once again upon me to work up a test hybrid for my cult. The fellow above is the look I've settled on for 2nd and 3rd generation hybrids. The bits hunt is in full swing, but I've hit an impasse. For the lower body I think Empire flagellant legs are bang on. The heads will be from the sisters of slaughter dark elf kit, but the upper torso has me stumped. For some hybrids I'll use the existing flagellant torso, and for 2nd gens the warhammer ghoul kit is perfect. Mantic plague models will also come in handy, but what I REALLY need are some bare torso and arms. I looked at dark eldar wracks and mandrakes, which have the wiry worked out looking proportions I'd like to use, but they are not ideal with all the hair on the mandrakes and also the expense. I thought I had it with plastic beastman torsos, but they're too hairy. Chaos marauders are a bit too buff. One is stumped.

Therefore, I put out the call, if anyone knows of a kit/model/conversion pack that contains bare humanish torsos/arms, one would be most grateful.

White Dwarf & Warhammer Visions #1

So White Dwarf and Warhammer Visions dropped last weekend to be scrutinised by the gaming public for any signs of weakness or deformity. It seems more than a few advocate they be abandoned on the side of Mount Taygetos already. I would not be among this group, and here's why.

It's certainly in vogue to bash GW products at any and every opportunity. Those that do so do it with a frothing zeal akin to a medieval flagellant. It's a special kind of hate. Not that such venom is without grounds, and there are also those who are less rabid and give negative yet considered opinions, but we won't go into that today. Today we talk about the new magazines from Games Workshop.

White Dwarf weekly
I found this to be an enjoyable read. It's 32 pages featuring new models, books and such, paint splatter, Jervis Johnson's delightful ramblings, a high view tyranid article, rules for Belegar Ironhammer, designer's notes on the new dwarves and various little tit-bits such as ask Grombrindal, paint tips and readers model of the week. The new 'Sprues and Glue' article, focuses on the assembly side of things and had some nice tips such as storing your plastic glue upside down to stop it drying out in the nozzle. There are no in-depth articles on the best strategies for tyranids in hardcore tournament play, and let's be frank, there never will be. White Dwarf is generally not aimed at the long-standing player or modeller. It's a light read about what's getting released this week and a few other bits and bobs, but I like the weekly format and it enables GW to be a little more agile with their releases.

I am fervently hoping we'll see new rules and scenarios in this magazine regularly. If Belegar is included in the dwarf book I would be most put out, but I have a feeling he will be. I'd love to see a new beastman unit one week, a new scenario the next, then maybe a vampire counts special character. That kind of thing would make me quite the happy gent. Fingers crossed, but so far, so good.

Warhammer Visions
I was a little perplexed at the reaction to this one. At a huge 230 pages it's a big momma. There are hobby articles, a battle report, the fantastic armies on parade, some ads it must be said, but mostly pages and pages of miniatures. This has provoked a storm of disappointment from the net. I chuckled pretty hard at one review. The commentator turned the pages like a man folding used toilet paper, disgust oozing out of every word. "Look!! Look at it!! It's all miniatures! Loads of photos of miniatures! I've seen this one before! See!! It's a zoom shot from two pages ago!!! (okay, that's a little lame, granted) This magazine is worse than Hitler!!! YeeaaaaaaaagggghhhH!!!" Okay, maybe he didn't use those EXACT words, but you get the jist.

I'm primarily a hobby guy, and a magazine that presents me with over 200 pages of minature porn every month is a good, good thing. All the deliciousness of the best GW miniatures from around the world without even having to trawl the net. I don't think we'll get a good feel for the magazine until next month though, as there is a lot of re-hash of the tyranids from last month. I do worry about the target audience too, it's appeal is primarily to the modellers and painters, many of whom already have access to the better miniature painting websites and may not feel the need to buy it.

But for me, as long as I keep seeing stuff I've not seen online already, I'm in, for now. I do like to pour over an actual magazine, call me old fashioned. It's a bit pricey, for sure, but I'll give it a go to see how it develops.

So there you have it. A tentative thumbs up from me on both counts. I may be an army of one.