“Built In Quistis’ Image Following Her Death…”

"...Velocity is the mechanical automaton the Engineer's Guild turn to..."

This 28mm metal model of the “Guild Ball” Engineer striker Velocity is made by “Steamforged Games Ltd” and can be bought separately, or with Ballista and Salvo as part of Engineer Starter Set. An incredibly delicate multi-part miniature, this figure took some considerable pinning before I was happy it was going to survive being painted (let alone used on a gaming table). In addition the “nimble and accurate” player’s pose did not appear too stable, and was thus repositioned slightly so as to make her stand a little taller on the base. Indeed, I have seen pictures of the model where the automaton’s bent left leg has either been entirely straightened or re-angled in order for the figure to seemingly be ‘sat’ upon it on the ground in a sort of crouching position…

As the majority of this miniature was supposedly animated wood, the model was initially undercoated with “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and then washed with “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. Velocity was then dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna before having her metallic joints ‘picked out’ with a combination of “Citadel” Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. Finally I applied a thin layer of “Vallejo” Gold around the edge of her breastbone, and washed this with some additional “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade in order to give the impression of it being lightly polished brass.

Plaguebearer WIPS - These disease infested daemons now just need their pimples to be 'picked out'

According to the Season One player’s illustration, and faint detailing upon the sculpt itself, a number of other metallic areas, such as the striker’s head plate, shoulder pads and waist gears, should also be brass coloured. But as I found it painfully difficult just to get a relatively straight thin stripe of paint onto the figure’s chest I felt it would be prudent for my sanity’s sake to give such delicately steady brushwork a miss.

I’ve yet to play a “Guild Ball” match with the Engineer’s team, but according to her rules, Velocity would appear to be a useful character to field, especially once she has the ball. In fact her Close Control skill, which allows “this model [to] ignore the first Tackle Playbook result against it” once per Turn probably means the player is able to retain possession better than most. Whilst her ability to Reanimate “when this model is reduced to 0 Hit Points” and “recover 3 Hit Points” before suffering the Taken-Out condition would suggest the automaton’s low(ish) health isn’t necessarily the ‘match fitness’ weakness it first appears.

Bloodletter WIPS - It's early days for these "Chosen of Khorne" as they've simply been primed

I'm now getting ever so close to completing the (first) ten-figure strong unit of Plaguebearers I intend to field as part of my "Age Of Sigmar" Host of Nurgle. The majority of these remaining miniatures simply need to have their numerous zits and pimples 'highlighted' with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre before essentially being finished. However I do still have some considerable work to do on the heavily-infected warriors' Icon Bearer.

In addition I have started to assemble, as well as prime, the plastic multi-part models found within the "Games Workshop" Bloodletters boxed set. The "Chosen of Khorne", I initially plan to use these Hellblade-carrying lesser daemons as Allies. However, if I can find the time and enthusiasm, to paint enough of the Slaughter-kin up, then I hope to use them for some small-scale skirmishes between the Forces of Chaos. For now though, they'll hopefully just prove to be a pleasant distraction from all the Nurgle I'm currently painting...