2017 Year in Review

This was another good hobby-filled year. So here is a summary of 2016 for me.

T'au Empire (Warhammer 40,000)
I took my T'au to the Harvester this year. While my Index army didn't have too much success, it was fun. Let's hope they get a good codex in 2018. At least I have some newly painted battlesuits.

James' Necrons (Warhammer 40,000)
I guess you could call this a commission. Something I did for my brother so he could attend the Harvester of Souls with us. We will see what kind of codex will come out for it in 2018.

Censers & Tocsins (Nurgle Mortals - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
This is an army I have been trying to keep up on with painting. Compared to last year's summary, I only had some built, and none painted. My goal with this army is if I build something for it, I paint it, before building the next thing. There will definitely be more to come for this AoS force.

Forthammer Clan Throng (Dispossessed - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
I have had a ton of fun with this army. I took them to the Las Vegas Open, added some cool conversions, and am running them in a campaign, which is still ongoing. I have more on the painting table for these guys, so I am not done with them yet.

The Klad Barag (Dispossessed - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
This deserves its own entry here because I consider it quite the achievement. Still not 100% sure what I will use him as, but he will be a proxy for any big dude I want to run in friendly games. Perhaps not tournament legal due to being a proxy and all. I do plan on taking some better photos of this guy and sending them to White Dwarf. Let's hope something comes from that.

Forgesworn Eternals (Stormcast Eternals - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
I haven't really added anything to this army, just got completely caught up on painting. Lately nothing has really stood out for the line to get me to want to add here. At least with being completely painted, if I do add anything, I will be inclined to immediately paint it. Like my plans for my Nurgle dudes.

Tempest's Eye Rangers (Grand Alliance: Order - Warhammer: Age of Sigmar)
I only have a couple things here for the army, for now. They are only really ever intended to be for some Grand Alliance army, rather than a start of Freeguild. I would like to paint them this coming year.

Song of Blades and Heroes Stuff
For my favorite non-Warhammer fantasy skirmish game, I have added a lot of Reaper BONES minis to it here and there. And I made some nifty ruins for it as well. But most of all I am still slowly working on the Song of the Deep Empire campaign supplement for it. More on that in the coming year.

And that sums up the year. Lot's of fun projects, and of course, lot's of plans for 2018. Stay tuned.

Tempest Eye Rangers - Freeguild General

For narrative purposes I knew I wanted a Hero to lead my Handgunners. Looking through all the warscrolls, I found one that I could bring and actually buff them without being the general, as these guys are only meant to be a minor addition to a mixed Order army. That is the Freeguild General, but only if he has the Stately War Banner.

Obviously he is made from the Excelsior Warpriest, but the banner is from the Black Ark Corsairs with the banner top from some of my random Brettonian bits I had lying around. The arms and pistol are from the Arkanaut Company kit. He has shoulder armor from the Longbeards kit. Finally he has a sword on his left hip that is from the Shadow Warriors. I think this creates a cool blend of all the races' contributions, which is what the free cities are all about.

Here he is with the whole unit. He will fit in better when they are all painted the same.

I really like this addition to my Order forces, in fact, I have already started thinking about a possible aelven unit and hero to add, to cover the main races of a free city. Likely something also from Tempest's Eye.

Tempest's Eye Rangers - Freeguild Handgunners

I came across a cool piece of artwork along my adventures in the internet.

Credit to Blazbaros. Careful, some of his work is NSFW

Any AoS player would think that this is some cool AoS fan-art. I mean, that is clearly a Freeguild Handgunner with a Kharadron Arkanaut. However it is not. Some guy commissioned him to do some D&D characters, but that did not get me to stop thinking about this image in AoS context. I really liked the look of the human character.

So I wanted creates something inspired by him in a way. Using some super MS Paint skills, I made a mock-up:

Sometimes this is what you need to do in order to get an idea going for a conversion. First is the body and legs. These are from the Shadow Warriors kit. I like the look of the cloak, tunic, and even legs. I especially like the cloak that comes up in front of the heads. Next are the arms and guns. These are from the Grundstok Thunderers kit. They are held aloft in a way like a heavy weapon, so I knew I was going to have to do some arm and hand reposing, to make them look like they are held like normal rifles. I wasn't sure what to use for a head, but once by chance I tried on the Warrior Priest head image, I fell in love. This screaming bald devotee just screamed veteran to me. I had an easy 2 components from what to order for parts: legs+torso, and arms+guns. But the heads would be a little more difficult. I wasn't going to buy 10 of the warrior priests and cut off their metal heads, so I looked to 3rd party.

Luckily I found Mad Robot Miniatures. They make bits mostly for 28mm heroic scale human miniatures. A lot of stuff for making your own Astra Militarum regiments (for those of you excited about their new Codex!). I like the choice of heads they had, and as a bonus, they are based here in the US! Most 3rd party bits makers are UK or EU based, which makes shipping troublesome.

I settled on the bald heads and the bandaged heads. The latter especially excited me because that would help to convey battle hardened veterans. Ordering those 2 sets got me 10 heads. Perfect.

Gathering the parts I need, and some greenstuff and cutting, I made them. My Tempest's Eye Rangers (counts as Freeguild Handgunners).

Banner on the left will be painted with the Tempest's Eye symbol from the latest Firestorm supplement, and the Marksman in the center has the long rifle. The barrel bit is actually from a can of air that you use for cleaning things like computer insides. I didn't have any plasticard tubing the right size.

A closer view of some of the conversion. The hands and arms were twisted and applied to do more of a rifle pose. I also removed the cables and the large trigger mechanism to slim them down.

Comparison to the original Grundstok Thunderers kit holding the gun.

I really don't plan on making a Free Peoples army, I just wanted a human unit to sometimes accompany a mixed Order army. I chose them to be from the Tempest's Eye free city, because I like the lore I read about it, and I can have the benefits with my Stormcast Eternals, and Dispossessed, and Ironweld Arsenal. That covers everything I already have for Order, so bonus. As for the painting color, I do like the original art I posted above, so I am going to try a deep yellow with some silver. More of an Averland Sunset yellow instead of a Flash Gitz yellow.

I do want to expand on these guys a little bit by making a hero that will accompany them. I do have a Excelsior Warpriest sprue lying around, and I think I can convert him to be a Freeguild General that leads the Rangers. More on that soon.