Monday, January 31, 2011

Astrid Eaglebourne


This piece was done using a reaper figure that was missing her left hand and right leg.  A friend, Matt, was playing a Hybrid Sword Mage/Warlord and decided to go with a lasso as the conduit of her spells.  I crafted the rope out of GS and wire, thats right, that rope is all hand rolled and bound.  I made the back leg and hand out of GS and the painted her up to match up with his artwork.  The base is custom, sculpted from GS as well. 

This was a very challenging project, the diameter of the rope proved the most difficult task.  Unfortunatley my friend moved down to Florida and I never got the chance to give him the finished project.  I keep her in my case, safe and sound till the next time our paths cross.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sebastian Haege - Amethyst Wizard


The call of the Amethyst Wind is the voice of death.  The wizard known as Sebastian Haege did not always  hear the Reapers whisperings, he once sought enlightenment from the celestial bodies above.  The coming of Chaos changed everything.  Assigned to protect a minor noble, Haege discovered that his charge was in league with the enemy and sought to subvert all around him into damnations embrace.  Sebastian refused to leave Sigmar's light, even pleading with the lord to pray to Sigmar for forgivness. 

For his compassion Sebastian was crucified upon a wheel, a farmers scythe driven through his abdomen and left to bleed out.  In his last moments the winds changed and he heard the voice of death whisper his name and offered salvation and vengence.  With his final breath he pledged himself to his new master.  Sebastian awoke as if from a dream, but in his hand was the scythe, drenched in his own blood.  He heard the Lord's name and knew it was time to collect the debt owed.  Like a ghost he slipped through the walls and entered the manor's dinning hall.

The Lord lay bathing in a pool of blood upon the floor.  Around the room the massacred bodies of those who he had seduced lay in pieces, all marked as testaments to the Lord's bloody affair with Chaos.  Sebastian could see the souls of the slain, and how each had been bound to a ritual.  The Lord, lost in elation, unaware of the fell ritual he had conducted or the enitity he was soon to be possed by, did not notice the Reaper's shade approach.  As the first painful twinge of chaos's embrace wracked the Lord's body, it was also his last.  Weilding the bloody scythe intended to slay him, Sebastian used it to cut the head off the Lord.  

When he returned to Altdorf, he did not return to his Celestial Studies, but instead drifted into the Amethyst School and prostrated himself before the school's master.  Since that day Sebastian has been considered by many chosen of death and the collector of souls.  The wise in Altdorf know that if death is cheated, then they can expect Sebastion Haege to come and collect Death's Debt. 

Radcliff Tombs - Amber Wizard


Born with the gift to feel and control the Winds of Magic, Radcliff was scouted out and taken from his family at a young age.  Trained by an eccentric miser, Radcliff became hardened and found his personality drifting away from society.  As his formal education was nearing completion he walked away from it all and headed into the wilds.  Answering a call he had heard in his heart since a child, he felt at peace.  Communing with nature, Radcliff realized he had not escaped magic, but rather embraced the tenets of the Amber wizard. For twenty years he has served the Empire, letting the wind guide him from one battle to the next where he brings his wrath down upon the Empire's enemies.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Captain Arlan Strangewayes - Cygnar Character Solo


The best of the best, Captain Arlan Strangewayes is who every arcane mechanik in Cygnar's army strives to be.  A pragmatic man, Captain Strangewayes believes that with his wrench there is nothing he can't do to keep warjacks in his charge in functioning order.  Unlike many of his fellow mechaniks, Strangewayes reveles in combat and feels invincible when accompanied by a warjack.  Equipped with a voltic gauntlet, he can scramble enemy warjacks.  A skilled Jack Marshal, he uses his arcane abilities to strengthen his own warjacks and can give them the ability to move freely on the battlefield.  While sometimes gruff and considered no nonesense, every commander wishes for Captain Arlan Strangewayes to be the one tending to their jacks.

A major planned conversion from the start, his nose was given some bulk, hair was added and he was reposed from the stock pose to give him the appearance from his artwork.  Unfortunatley his pipe was lost, but in my opinion, it was an improvement.  The largest challenge was to reposition the arms and rebuild the left hand to grasp the wrench, but it was accomplished using a safety needle and alot of patience.  His hair took on several incarnations until I found a look I liked and then he sat on a shelf for nearly five months before paint touched him, and I am happy with his finished look. 

Hammersmith - Cygnar Heavy Warjack


The most brutal of the Cygnar heavy warjacks, it is also the most simple.  Void of the usual advanced weaponry that exemplifies Cygnar weapon platforms, it instead fills a role previously held by the retired Nomad warjack.  Equiped with dual Hammer's, the Hammersmith is the Cygnar equivilent of the typical Khador warjack.  Heavily armored, slow and powerful, the Hammersmith is deployed to destroy the heavy armor in the enemies lines.  In addition, the Hammers are equiped with powerful pistons that beat back any hit by them, and if they both hit, then even the sturdiest of enemies will find itself launched backward.  The Hammersmith's powerful legs propel it forward after its enemy so it can continue to rain down more attacks.

I really enjoyed painting this figure, being a change of pace from the traditional Cygnar warjacks.  I had a heck of a time keeping the legs attached to its torso, the small contact points did not support the upper torso very well.  After three mishaps and failed use of GS to hold it in place I fell back to the tried and true pinning technique to keep the legs in place, and still has too much movement for my liking.  In the future if I get another I will have to do extensive pinning and conversion to eliminate the problem.  I tried to match the paint job to the artwork, but took some liberties with the white to show his intended use with Darius.  Overall, very happy with the finished product.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Lanyssa Ryssyll - Minion Mercenary Solo


When Lanyssa returned from her adventures abroad to her Nyss kin, she was horrified to discover their blighted existence and servitude to Everblight.  Knowing that she alone could not free her people from their enslaved existence, she fled and took with her the remneants of her culture.  Swearing an oath to destroy the minions of Everblight and avenge her kin, Lanyssa offers her services to those that further her cause.

A brilliant sculpt and an awesome addition to my collection.  Viewing her Mk 1 card, I wanted the figure to mirror the image and I am happy with it.  She has proven her worth more than once, especially against the Legion.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Reinholdt , Gobber Speculator - Mercenary Character Solo



Reinholdt is a gobber of the world and a he lets everyone know it. Despite his apparent lack of mechanikal interest, his value to those who pay for his services in undoubted and many a warcaster or field commander feels his luck change for the better when he is by their side.

One of my only non-human figures, at the time, I actually enjoyed doing the green skin and doing up his awesome jacket.  I can't wait till they do more gobbers because they are awesome little buggers.

Drake MacBain - Mercenary Warcaster


Driven by coin and honorable to the letter of his contract, MacBain is the ideal professional mercenary.  Skilled at warfare and ever aware of the need for his men to survive to fight another day, his arcane skill revolves around getting the most bang for the buck.  He is loved and hated for his professionalism, but it doesn't make a difference on how he viewed, its his job and it ain't personal.

One of two mercenary warcasters in my collection and by far my favorite of the two sculpts, but not as impressive in the game.  A bit of conversion work was needed to reposition his arm, it turned out better than the original pose.  My only regret is that he hasn't seen action as of yet due to insufficent support in my merc lists.  Something I hope to remedy come the near future.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Lady Aiyana and Master Holt - Mercenary Privateer Character Unit


Mysterious and enigmatic, Lady Aiyana is always accompanied by her silent bodyguard, Master Holt. Lady Aiyana wields magic rarely seen out side of Ios and unlike most of her race, she does not disdain other races openly. She prefers to keep conversations light and when asked, her purpose obscured in witty double talk. . Her accomplice is seen as a sentinel, and his expert skill with his twin double pistols does the talking for him. Unrivaled in his skill, many opponents back down without a single shit fired.

These two began my collection and entrance into Warmachine. I really dug the studio paint style and I tried my best to follow suit. I try to include these two in as many lists as possible, their utility is quite impressive and many opponents have come to fear their presence on the board.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Thunderhead - Cygnar Character Heavy Warjack


Thunderhead is the culmination of Commander Adept Nemo's research in galvanic power.  Powered by a massive storm chamber and utilizing a highly modified cortex, Thunderhead never needs to be refueled and is always ready for duyt. Lightning crackles constantly between its many coils and it is surrounded by a pale blue corona, which lights up the dark, prohibiting his effectivness in stealthy operations. Built to maximize its voltic heart, its can send out a massive pulse from its storm chamber or fire off bolts of lightning from its storm towers.  Its fists imploy a similiar power system to amplify their effectivness, lending to increased accuracy and disruptive effect on warjack cortexes.  When the Thunderhead is spotted on the field, enemy commander know it is too late to evade the Cygnarian Storm.

Thunderhead was a birthday gift and at first I hesitated painting it.  THead is a beautiful sculpt and I didn't want to do a crap job.  I noticed that I lost the power cables and had to improvise.  When I finally worked out how to replace them, I grew inspired and I got to work.  I decided that he would be painted in the studio scheme and I am really happy in how he turned out.  

Captain E. Dominic Darius and Halfjacks - Cygnar Warcaster


A warcaster, arcane mechanik, and savior of warjack requistion clerks everywhere, Captain Darius is everybit a representation of Cygnar's approach to war.  Seated in his suit of heavily modified mechanikal armor, he is as devastating on the battlefield as the warjacks under his command. Realizing the importance of keeping his vigilance while in combat, he deploys the pinicle of his career, the Halfjacks.  These minature servitors can do minor repairs and focus Darius's arcane energies to repair warjacks.  In addition each is equipped to burrow into the ground and become remote mines in Darius's control, further increasing their effectivness.  Captain Darius can deploy many of these Halfjack's, replacing them throughout the engagement.  Darius is not a frontline warcaster, usually held in reserve and dispatched as a reinforcment to other warcasters, a task he excels at with his legion of warjacks in tow.

One of the infamous Apothesis warcasters, he was an unexpected buy and easy to convert to give a more dynamic pose.  I liked his artwork and was excited to paint him.  I decided to paint him closer to his artwork, doing away with his blue chest plate as  the studio painted him, and did it in white.  Thus far he is the lead contender for my MM/TC lists and casual games.

Black Thirteen Gun Mage Strike Force - Cygnar Character Unit



The Black Thirteen, a special wing of the Arcane Tempest Gun Mages that deal with the most covert of operations.  Their number has waxed and waned for years, but currently only three members exist.  Lynch, their current commanding officer, is a veteran and said to be the most experianced Gun Mage alive.  Ryan, the charming and deadly gun slinger who wields dual pistols.  Watts is the scoundrel and neakiest of the three and has a reputation as a master duelist.

Small for their size, and difficult to paint, they are the utility unit of Cygnar that makes them almost an auto include in any army.  I didn't have fun painting these three, but I am glad that they are done and they turned out alright.  Happy hunting you three.

Stormclad - Cygnar Heavy Warjack


Created as a symbol after the King Leto's ascension to the throne, the Stormclad harnessed the fighting spirit and glory of the Stormblades and manifested it into warjack form.  Wielding a massive Generator Blade that can hack through the toughest armor and arcing lightning from its storm chamber into surrounding enemies, the Stormclad fights alonside is namesakes.  In addition it is equipped with an accumlator that harnesses the voltic power of its allies to increase its combat abilities.

Definitley at the core of many of my lists, the Stormclad is a 'don't leave home without it' model.  I enjoyed painting him up and after PP did away with his banner rule I was able to convert it to look more streamline.  The next one I get will be much more heavily converted, but its hard to top this bad boy.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Grenadier - Cygnar Light Warjack


A Trencher's best friend, the Grenadier was created to assist the men the best way possible.  Able to dig trenches with mighty swings of its mattock, it can hunker down next to the men and create a low profile that enemies find hard to hit.  Equiped with a grenade launcher, it was designed to be manually loaded by the accompaning trenchers to fire off multiple grenades in rapid succession.  Many trencher officers use these unitarian light warjacks to bolster their lines.

Nicknamed the Banger Brothers, these warjacks unfortunatley don't see much table time as I perfere to not run trenchers.  On the flip side, when I do, they can lay waste approaching light infantry, such as hordes of swordsman.  I liked painting them up and they really are inspiring me to finish my trenchers.

General Adept Nemo - Cygnar Warcaster


The father of voltic research and the creator of Thunderhead, General Adept Nemo is one of Cygnar's most experienced battlefield commanders.  A pragmatic man, he gave up his family to serve his country to keep them safe.  A mentor for many of Cygnar's elite military members, he is best known as Lord Commander
Stryker's teacher when he was a Journeyman.  Nemo is not foolish enough to get set in his ways and looks at battle as a schematic; if doesn't work, scrap it and start at the drawing board.

My only epic caster, Epic Nemo was awesome to paint and one of my favorite casters.  He is not a front-line caster, but you wouldn't know that by the way I play him.  His ranged attack proves my down fall against warmachine as I use him to tie up groups of warjacks.  Then again, I have beaten down Karcheve in melee, so I say to the bold goes victory.